Sports

One of my favorite things to do is to play sports.

I was not into talking verbally growing up to be honest with you. Usually am the silent type often times, so why sports?

Well, for one thing, when it comes to sports, most of the activities don't require speech, just action and movement! Growing up, I would mostly move around all over the place even to the point of not knowing how to keep my hands to myself by mistake; So my teachers and parents encouraged me to do some fun activities outside during recess or in the backyard.

Actually, before school time, I was still encouraged to be active when I was two. May be diagnosed with having autism at age three, but still, my mom made sure I was doing something that involved moving around whether I have autism or not. Think it was something to do with Mr. Golden Sun. Can't believe I remember how it goes.

Sports was fully discovered when I grabbed a soccer ball with my hands and some kids yelled "HAND BALL!" and learned that there are rules in playing this particular game of soccer. Always have been so fascinated with games, but not so much with ones that involve competition. The kind of games where there can only be one winner. I didn't know the whole purpose of games for a while during preschool, which is why I didn't really want to play that much.

Sports however changed that thinking when it came to games. It's not just mental games with simple activities, but the games within the sports require a ton of movement! One of the coolest things about sports is that talking is optional on some occasions. Soccer was one of my favorite sports and still is today. Simple task of getting the ball over to the goal while not touching the ball with your hands. Football (I still like to call it 'football'. I'm European.) was a primary sport during recess next to baseball, and I remember hearing the part where you can't touch the soccer ball with your hands, so I did many bizarre moves with the ball without even touching it like flipping around and walking on my hands with the ball between my feet. Of course, this was elementary, and us kids would do some goofy things when it comes to sports but still understand the general rules to the game; elementary sure can teach, learn, and discover imagination, and through sports, I have learned how to share my imagination with others and not keep it to myself.

 In elementary school, we played our sports hard. We were tough! Didn't care if I had autism or not, but whenever I played, I felt like I was a part of something big! In high school, when I would do something sports like such as Gym class, kids would play easy on me because they know I have autism and think that they should slow down for me. In my head, I was angry because I want a good challenge; wanted to push myself to even greater limits when it comes to sports, since I have grown up, I have that feeling to want to be challenged and try new things instead of sticking to the same routine every time.

Sports really have taught me a whole lot in life. I know a few good school classmates that have a passion for basketball and football. Those are the ones that have a wonderful story to tell.

My message to the reader is this. I believe that it is very important for someone with autism to stay active, whether it is a sports activity or a simple walk in the park; Any kind of movement is good, at least an hour a day. Sports can definitely teach many lessons when partaking or sometimes even watching; So remember to stay active and be a good team player, but most importantly, have fun! That is how we get the benefit from the games themselves.