Can an Aspie be athletic??

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Joined: 24 Nov 2017
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27 Nov 2017, 3:47 am

Most definitely. I was MVP for my softball team AND the whole league and was written up in the paper for pitching the first shut out and so forth. Naturally I was oblivious. I would just come home from school and throw a tennis ball against the side of the house for HOURS. I got enough sense of myself that the ball goes where I want it to and when it comes down I catch it. That is what you are supposed to do and that was my goal so I did.

In retrospect, I may have been one of the few "jocks" ever that still managed to be unpopular! But I still love sports. They were fun and there was a goal and skills to focus on. I love sports especially baseball.

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GiantHockeyFan
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27 Nov 2017, 9:06 am

Save the witches wrote:

In retrospect, I may have been one of the few "jocks" ever that still managed to be unpopular! But I still love sports. They were fun and there was a goal and skills to focus on. I love sports especially baseball.

I think my problem was that I was still too much of a geek to be a popular jock: I was always picked last for every sport except when I was clearly among the best, where I was usually picked in the middle. To this day I still don't get a whole lot of respect: I led my softball team in many categories this year, including batting average and singles. Still meant I was usually thrown in as an afterthought at the bottom of the order. I go out of my way to be fair and sportsmanlike and still get called a cheater or dirty player all the time.

Funny you should mention throwing a ball around for hours. Both my brother and I used to love doing that in the basement: get a rubber ball and see how many times you could bounce it off the wall, floor and catch it in a row. We later used throw it as hard as possible at the brick wall while trying to catch it. No wonder I have such a great glove hand!

I also know my father in law has many aspie traits and was a highly skilled Baseball player: he even got invited to a MLB youth camp once! My wife tells me if he actually put the time and effort into it (in other words not had a family at an early age) he might have even gotten the chance to play professionally. I got him to fill in for one of our softball games and despite being almost twice the age of everyone else was one of the better players.

Shakti
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27 Nov 2017, 9:17 am

I'm definitely a late bloomer with sports, I'm only just getting into it at age 35, and outrunning a lot of people half my age! Being aspie actually gives you an edge mentally, it's helped with noticing patterns and coordinating breathing, which helps you go longer and faster. If I ever win my age group in Ironman, maybe I'll credit ASD.

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kraftiekortie
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27 Nov 2017, 10:07 am

Yeah. Me too!

I sucked at sports when I was younger---was usually picked last for teams.

However, I did run and finish three NYC Marathons in the 1990s. Two of them were done in under 4 hours.

I still wouldn't consider myself an "athlete," though. I am a Wolfman, instead.

Trogluddite
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27 Nov 2017, 10:26 am

I was never into competitive sports. I never had the co-ordination or situational awareness to be good at them, and I never had a sense of caring who won - I have no interest in being a spectator, either.

However, I was a very keen pot-holer/caver [USA: spelunker] when I was younger, to the point of being a leader/trainer for the last few years that I was doing it. I also love hiking and will always walk places unless time pressure forces me to use public transport - e.g. 5 miles a day including a 400ft climb, in all weathers, to commute to my last job.

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kraftiekortie
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27 Nov 2017, 10:29 am

If I lived three miles from my job, and didn't have to walk on a highway, I'd walk to work every day. It's a shorter commute than what I have now using buses and trains.

ASPartOfMe
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27 Nov 2017, 1:17 pm

Save the witches wrote:

Most definitely. I was MVP for my softball team AND the whole league and was written up in the paper for pitching the first shut out and so forth.

kraftiekortie wrote:

However, I did run and finish three NYC Marathons in the 1990s. Two of them were done in under 4 hours.

Congratulations on your achievements

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27 Nov 2017, 3:44 pm

Posted in this thread before.. some sports as a kid/teen (bowling, swimming, softball) but the last few years I've been much more athletic. I've done ~200K pushups and now add in some squats daily, haven't run much the last year but I still can.. work a physical job (construction), and have done the Tough Mudder 4 times in Whistler. Currently 6'2" 193lbs ~13%bf but dip down to ~10%bf in the Summer when I'm more active at work and going to the beach nearly daily (about 500 stairs down a cliffside to get there) & kiteboarding when I can get up to Squamish. I've only gained a few lbs of fat because my activity level drops off in the Fall & I tend to eat a few extra carbs. Ah well, it's only a few lbs to burn off over the rest of the Winter before it's beach time again.

Shakti wrote:

maybe I'll credit ASD.

There are definitely some ASD traits at play in terms of daily routines as well as my single mindedness about finishing what I start when I set out to do it. Others simply don't have that level of hyper focus or discipline come so naturally to them.

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07 Sep 2018, 2:33 am

Gavin Rose was diagnosed with autism three years ago. Now, he's competing for a world bull riding titl

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At just seven years old, Gavin Rose is well versed in bucking expectations.

Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2015, Rose never felt included in team sports like soccer and baseball. It wasn’t until he tried his hand at bareback horse and bull riding that he found a family, one that supports and encourages him to get on for the next ride.

“Bull riding is basically the best sport you can do. It’s all about balance,” the young cowboy said.

Now he’s bound for Oklahoma to compete in the International Miniature Bullriders Championship. Rose is one of only three Canadians to qualify for the meet; he got the news in early August, after placing first in the Canadian miniature bull riding peewee division.

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07 Sep 2018, 4:16 pm

I exercise pretty regularly myself (: Its great stress relief

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07 Sep 2018, 4:36 pm

When I was younger , Windsurfing was my passion . It's a solo sport that requires you to not think , just react , just be . When everything is dialed in and you're planing in perfect balance , it's effortless and feels like flying . It really helped me in many ways .

BenderRodriguez
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07 Sep 2018, 5:00 pm

What a strange question! Sure they can - I am and so is my son.

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Dragonet
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10 Sep 2018, 9:47 am

Jayo wrote:

I'm wondering if it's possible for an athletic Aspie to exist - bucking the cultural stereotype. Not that they'd be Olympians or major league sports hot-shots, but higher-than-average athletic.

While I'm in good shape from weightlifting, biking, swimming, etc over many years and hardly look scrawny or chubby, I'm still not really athletic.

I have heard isolated stories here and there about people with AS being athletic: there's Clay Marzo the surfer, there was a young Canadian man called Jordan Morrison with Aspergers, who was described by his friends as being "very athletic" and a "talented skateboarder". Sadly, Jordan was tragically murdered while on a trip in the Dominican Republic, but appeared to be unrelated to his having Aspergers - rather he intervened when a young woman was being harassed, and got beaten to death (Google "Jordan Morrison Aspergers" and you'll see.) Another example was a young man with Aspergers who ran the marathon every year in his city (but I don't recall the article saying how well he placed, other than the fact that he finished).

I suppose there are always exceptions, just like Jewish and East Indian people are not typically thought of as "athletic types", there are some out there for sure. But like Aspies, they're probably a much lower percentage as compared to the proportion of NTs who are athletic and don't fall into said ethnic categories.

Such a good idea. Sport is great, any level you can reach, even only taking a walk in the neighbourhood. Go ahead and congratulations.

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17 Nov 2018, 2:50 am

Wells cross country runners don't let autism slow them down

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Both the boys and girls cross country teams at Wells High School were Western Maine conference champions for division two this year. Two runner who helped contribute to the boys win were Matt Chase and Noah McAvoy.

Cross country isn't just about running on level ground. If you're going to win, you have to be ready for those uphill battles. Chase and McAvoy know how to conquer the hills on the course and in life. They both started running in middle school, and they've both been living with autism for their entire lives.

"It's been like harder for me to learn things that for non-autistic kids it comes more naturally," said Chase. "Like learning to talk, or learning social skills."

McAvoy's form of autism is a bit more pronounced than Chase's. He has a difficult time communicating and sometimes as a hard time focusing on the cross country course, but with the help of coach Bob Winn, he's stayed focused on his goals.

Astridlora
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18 Nov 2018, 4:06 am

Yep we sure can . I don't have any muscles but I do a lot of running from charity where I live. Last year and this year I'm participating in a fun run which is a run around my village where you get sponsored by family, friends and neighbours and raise money for mental health, I've done this four years in a row now. It keeps me fit and it's for a good cause.

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18 Nov 2018, 8:17 pm

Astridlora wrote:

Yep we sure can

. I don't have any muscles but I do a lot of running from charity where I live. Last year and this year I'm participating in a fun run which is a run around my village where you get sponsored by family, friends and neighbours and raise money for mental health, I've done this four years in a row now. It keeps me fit and it's for a good cause.

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