Physical Activity. What works for your Aspie?

Post Reply New Topic

Gym in school, and team sports in general, have always been boring activities to me.

Badmitton and Racketball, clicked with me, because they are fast games, and generally don't involve a large crowed of people.

So.... The question here is .....

What physical activity does your Aspie engage in, and what positive and negative effects have you seen from it?

Twenty push ups will be assigned to those who fail to tell a funny story in their entry.

Hm, I'm not very funny so I guess I'm going to have do some push ups ...

And, FYI, push ups aren't something my son does well, either. Tends to sag in the middle and turn the arms funny, ya know.

What my son does like:

First and foremost favorite physical activity is walking or hiking. He LOVES to hike. Just being outside and moving. When he's freaking out on home work I've learned to go outside with him for a walk while he clears his head.

Bike riding (he learned it late but once he got it he fell in love with it)

Swimming (although he's having issues mastering strokes and gaining competence for any distance, he really likes playing in the water - diving games, things like that)

Soccer (yes, it's a team sport, but if you really suck at it it isn't so obvious when you are starting out at age 6 or 7 and eventually he actually learned to be a fairly decent defender. We always got him on teams with coaches he knew)

Snow skiing (he just learned this a year ago and loves it. He's not barreling down the hills like other new learners his age but so what? If he doesn't care, we don't care)

My son has severe tracking issues so pretty much everything involving a ball is out. One of the tricks he learned in soccer was less about intercepting the ball than blocking the path of the opponent. One game this past fall he blocked the path of the same guy as that guy went up to try for a goal more than 4 times. That kid was so frustrated, I got a total kick out of it. My son was doing his job well without ever kicking a ball.

Too bad pacing and stimming aren't considered sports. But, really, he sure does move a lot.

Sex dancing hiking sleeping thinking. Yeah, those are my favorite physical activities.

Jumping on the trampoline
Rocking in the hammock
and a new one - boxing on the Wii, backwards, whilst running on the spot - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKopztUjhqw

Way back in school..... I favored games that involved running people down, such as basketball or soccer. I had no fear of being kicked, so I could always steal the ball. I always passed it, I wasn't talented, just fast.

Nowdays I don't do all that much. My job is physical, but other than that.... ?

My son loves to be in the water and we walk all the time with our dogs. There's a little exercise involved but he also loves bowling. When he's 12 he wants scuba lessons - but somehow I cannot picture him being able to tolerate having that equipment on?

I don't know about scuba lessons, but I would suggest he try snorkeling lessons first. It teaches you the skills you need to know for scuba diving at an easier level. Like how to pop your ears underwater, and learning to cope with the pressure as you go deeper and stuff. I tried snorkeling lessons, so I'd say it's a good way just to test to see if your son really knows what he's getting himself into.

Running. Far away.

Trampoline jumping, being chased, and climbing furniture also. He likes gymnastic balance beams and kicking balls and stuff like that, where he can rip around. He's been working on self-moderation using yoga-like resistance pushes (bend over and push hands against the ground).

I've considered soccer, it would likely be good because he's got good foot-eye coordination and likes kicking the ball. Had figured diagraming what to do, sort of an X and O social story would work fine. And when they are young all these kids are pretty lose on the rules and what to do (sometimes an adult will have to physically pick up the ball as it goes out of bounds or the kids keep on playing further and further from the field). But timing never quite worked into our schedule. Have got a mother-in-law that insists on weekly Saturday visits from the grandchildren.

For me:

Ice skating (long distance more than sprinting, when lacking ice it'd be skeelers (the 5 wheel skates)
Biking (again, long distance, full pump)
Swimming (sprints or multiple laps doesn't matter)

Basically, a sport that has activity by rote, but still demands coordination and strength. Something i can put myself into completely and not having to think for a while. And ofcourse, be too exhausted to think when done.

Oddly enough, in childhood it was something that i could beat other kids with, and they'd have to admit i was better at something than they were.

This is what was done to me, don't try this at home or anywhere else, period.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt379.html

for oldest aspie: walking, running..........haven't found any physical activity daughter enjoys- she can't even stand walking for extended periods of time.

You don't have to walk for very long. Twenty minutes will do. Ten, if you can't do twenty. I like to walk, but if I don't have a book on tape with me I find it boring.

I used to do swimming and racquetball, but then the Y ran out of money to do scholarships and I couldn't pay for a membership. Finding a swimsuit in size XL was a bit... interesting... though! They seem to think that big women don't like to swim. bleh.

One note about walking:

My son had to mature into enjoying that. He used to tire very easily. Eventually, that changed. He needs to be walking in the right type of environment; a mall or such is NOT it