Before COVID, my son loved his swimming lessons, so one of my goals for him this year is to restart swimming lessons. While he HATES getting his face and hair wet, he loves the sensation of being in water, and going to the beach or the swimming pool is one of his favorite things to do.
Exercise is so important for everyone’s physical and mental health. When my husband doesn’t run, he gets itchy feet and gets frustrated. My older neuro-typical son plays all the sports that he can possible fit into a week. So why would I ever think that my younger autistic son doesn’t need to be encouraged to find more sports that he can love?
A UK Parliament PostNote from January 2020 stated that “70% of autistic people have a mental health condition. Autistic people are up to four times more likely to have anxiety, and twice as likely to have depression.” Therefore exercise is likely to have a much needed therapeutic effect. Additionally, stronger and more flexible muscles can help autistic people with balance and core strength, and strong biceps could help with weaker hand muscles.
So what sports am I thinking about introducing him to this year? Having listened to a lot of autistic adults, I’m not going to encourage him to participate in team sports. If he shows interest in them on his own then that may be a different story, but for now, in 2022- in addition to restarting his swimming lessons- I’m going to start completing some small runs with him and doing some yoga.
I’m hoping that as he gets more successful with each of these sports, he will feel a sense of achievement and pride in himself- ultimately, I want him to not see his autism as a negative thing.
The Pajama Gang 