AS kids and Sports

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Diver is playing broomball.

So what? Big Deal. Kids play all kinds of sports.

Not kids with ASD's. Our kids are prone to clumsiness; "poor motor skills" the occupational therapists call it. They bump into things and fall down. They tend to have poor muscle tone. Motor planning -- knowing where you are in space and how to get where you want to be -- is also a weakness. Even for a kid who may have lucked out physically, the social complexity of a team sport can prove too much of a challenge.

No wonder so many of our kids give up and become sedentary.

Diver failed at basketball, soccer and T-ball, where he famously threw kisses while the other kids threw balls, and then proceeded to lead a mass exodus to the portapotties.

So the fact that he has gone off to play broomball makes me kvell. Granted, the other kids are not average Joes either. They're an ad hoc group organized by an agency that does outreach to troubled teens.

But he is with a group. He's playing a sport.

In my book, that makes him athlete of the year.