7 yo aspie playing Little League

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My son is 7 years old, and has been diagnosed with Asperger's. He has always been in another world since he was just a baby. I try not to sweat this thing, because basically this is HIM. It's his personality, and always will be.

Anyway, he is playing little league football this year, along with his 6 y.o. brother. Last year we tried T-ball, but it was "too dangerous" he said. You know, the speed of the ball going so many mph..... If you got hit yada yada yada.

He seems to like the football, though. The coaches do look at him funny every now and then, because he's saying something crazy, but I think he likes it. Does anyone have any experience playing Little League, and any advice to offer? I don't need for him to be the best at all. I just think it's good for him to get out there and try some of the things all the other little boys are doing. It is doing wonders for the self esteem, too, because he is one of the biggest on the 6-7 year old team.

Any input is appreciated.

Guess no one here is athletic.LOL. Did anyone EVER play any little league? just wondering what your experiences were. Both good and bad. Someone had to have played atleast once.

My son is very much into the solar system and all kinds of other stuff. I just wanted to broaden his horizons a little. He seems to like it, atleast a little. If you've played any sports before, please tell me your experiences.

I used to play soccer when I was in elementary school. I hated it with a passion and made it my goal to stay as far away from the ball at all times as I could. The only reason I went at all was that my mom made me.

...Yeah. Sorry if that doesn't help you out much.

My son played soccer for a while on a team for children with autism. He honestly was NOT interested in doing anything else other than kicking the ball in the goal and found the other kids annoying (lol).

So, can a child with Asperger's play any organized sports, with any amount of success? Even in the mediocre range?

It really depends on the individual child, but often I think that kids on the spectrum may have a different idea about what being on a team entails. My son was so thrilled about the soccer program until he got there and saw all the other kids and that they were doing practices and things like that. His idea of being on a "team" was different than some of the other kids who seemed to be enjoying themselves. So I think the desire to interact with other kids is an important factor. Another thing was that he has difficulty processing what is being said so he would immediately get upset if instructions were being given and things like that and start having a screaming fit. Of course they were other kids who were just as unhappy and impatient as he was (lol). My son has HFA though, but I don't really think that makes too much of a difference considering that many use the term interchangeably - and the team was open to anyone on the spectrum so there were kids with AS, HFA and PDD-NOS.

When I was at primary school, I was made to play football, and at first my objective was to simply avoid all the children hurling themselves about in such a dangerous manner. Usually this involved running away from the ball if it came near me, as from my observations, everyone else seemed interested in following it, so its approach was usually the precursor to the other children swarming at me as well.

Then the teachers told me I was supposed to kick the ball into the net, which I had a go at, but soon realised that involved getting far too close to everyone else. (Which annoyed me, as I figured out that I'd have been quite good at it otherwise.) I then adapted my strategy to runnign along _behind_ the other children - this allowed me to avoid them, but it kept the teachers happy as they thought I was trying to get to the ball.

Anyway, to answer colcamt3's question - it really depends on the child. The best thing to do might be to just let your son have a go, and see what he thinks of it. Be encouraging but don't over-pressure him. Make sure you talk to him about what he thinks of it - ask if he's enjoying it or not, and what he likes and doesn't like about his experiences so far. In general, I'd say aspies aren't the most suited children to group sports - but if he's enjoying it and getting something out of it, then by all means, let him continue.

When I was 5 my father made me play baseball. I was embarassingly terrible at it. I think I hit the ball once, and he was not the greatest at encouraging me. He was a baseball fanatic and it was quickly very clear I was never going to be a player.

I played organized soccer a few years later, and most of the kids laughed at the way I ran (flat footed). Wasn't too hot at that either.

When I was in 7th grade, however, I played (American) football. It was very serious business, and the coaches were very rough on us (this was rural Texas, after all). I was awful. I couldn't throw or catch, and I was a slow runner. I still ran funny, and the kids I played with taunted me and called me "birdman" because they said I ran like a chicken.

But I had a high tolerence for pain, and I did the intense workouts and managed to get in very good shape. I'm a pretty large guy, so they eventually had me playing defensive end. It took me a long time to be able to "read" the game and I would get burnt on plays, but by the eigth grade I was a starter. By this time also, I became a decent runner.

In practice I began beating the cockier kids (the very same ones that taunted me) at sprints, and I was recruited to run track. I played for a few years (track and American football) and while I can never say I was great at it, I was at least good enough at it to compete. I eventually quit because I had other commitments in school, but I think it did great things for my self esteem. My dad didn't believe me when I came home one day and told him I was running hurdles.

I think the coaching played a big factor, though. The coaches were really hard, but they appealed to our sense of pride saying things like "There's no shame in walking away from this, if you aren't up to it." and "Size and athletic ability are not nearly as important as heart." I believed them, and I don't think I would have ever lasted if I thought otherwise. American football was good for my attention span (plays last less than 20 seconds and you start over again). It's much harder to drift mentally.

I tried playing other sports, and even now (at 32) I can't do a layup in basketball, or play any other sport that well. I recently tried boxing and I was terrible at that too. I think it took a LONG time for me to develop fundamentals, but I can still play football, and I still jog. There's probably some kind of sport, group or solo that your son will have enough of an interest to stick with. It's easy to get frustrated and quit, but if he finds something that appeals to him and sticks with it, just getting good enough to compete feels great.

Sometimes I wish my football coaches were around today to coach me through life...

I never played any sports. I was two heads taller than everyone else when I started school, but not even basketball could capture my interest. As mentioned, the solar system on the other hand ... (! !)
The only thing I was remotely good at was as a goalie during the breaktime soccer games. My reach could have made me pretty good, but it was cancelled out by my lack of motivation.
One time I actually got on the ground to catch the ball in my arms, but the attacking player still took a shot and accidently hit me square in the mouth. Blood everywhere, but no teeth lost. I was still calm as a cucumber as was escorted to the nurses office.
Btw, the same guy would (four or five years later) hit me in the face on purpose, as a dare from some of his skinhead buddies. History repeats itself?

The exact same strategy I used!!

Sports never hurt me, but they never helped me, either. I was usually the worst on the team; but that didn't matter to me since I don't really care what other people think, especially when it comes to things as pointless as sports...

Individual sports are more satisfying to me. Beating my own best time/best performance is always interesting and challenging... unfortunately I have sensory issues with being dirty or sweaty (it feels like having an itchy rash all over!); so my ideal sport is swimming. I'm not good at it; but I'm not competitive, either, so who cares? I don't.

I represented my school for sprint, relay, long jump, high jump, throwing. It wasn't till i got to my teens that other kids round my age put me off.
I think we aspies have the ability to make our obsession anything, becoming fit can easily been one of them. It's probably the reason that there are lot's of undetected female aspies, a lot of girls make it their goal while teens to fit in with their friends. ( imo)

Hehe, interesting point. If an aspie's sole desire was to be NT, could (s)he then use the diagnoze to get rid of said diagnoze?
Perhaps that's what lots of aspies do, however it's more of an act than an actual transformation.

Don't we tend to get obsessed with things we can control or predict, though? Information about a subject, or a pastime that doesn't involve other people...

I don't see a lot of Aspies becoming obsessed with participation in things like team sports or social climbing. Sports trivia or social science--related fields--are rather popular, though.

The Aspie response to something unfamiliar tends to be "I want to understand this" rather than "I want to participate in this". There's this tendency to be an observer...

Regarding female Aspies: Yes, I have a theory. I will now proceed to lecture about it.

I do believe we females have both advantages and disadvantages. Female brains aren't as specialized as male brains; and that offsets some of the ultra-specialization, ultra-left-brainedness of AS, with both good and bad results. Also, females are better at multi-tasking; so we will be less bothered by things like being distracted by sensory stimuli. However, we don't have the advantages that come with that, either: we might be less perceptive than male Aspies.

That doesn't really mean that female Aspies are less affected than males, though. It means there are fewer females that fit the definition of Asperger Syndrome.

Being female just shifts you a bit towards the NT end of the spectrum. For example, if a female with mild AS were male, s/he might have moderate AS instead. If a male with mild AS were female, s/he might not be on the spectrum at all--just be on the Aspie side of NT.

The results are that the females who would, if they were male, have mild AS, are instead "pushed off the spectrum" by the differences between the genders' brains. Consequently, there are fewer female Aspies than males.

I imagine there's probably more to it than that; but gender's effect on thinking style should be at least part of the picture.

I hate sports of any kind. I go to the gym to burn off my obesity, but that's all I do.
I suspect that the majority of Aspie boys have to much problems with coordination, maturity and bullying to be able to be good at or interested in sports.

O.K., well, my little boy is a little weird about going to football practice, but he isn't that much worse than the other kids, because they are all 6 & 7 years old. Plus he's taller than everyone else. Only a couple out of the 25 or so really know whats going on.

The coaches do alot of yelling and pulling them to their positions. They are so wrapped up in coaching, they don't allow for questions or anything. Sounds horrible, but for once my kid is just like all the others. He can't ask questions about bodily harm and all that, cuz they don't give you a chance. The minute he starts in about some facts, the coaches say, "Be quiet and pay attention!" Not just to him but to all the kids, although the other kids may be talking about how fast they are, etc.

I don't know how long he'll do it, but it gives him a chance to get out there, and do something the other kids are doing. I can tell, even at his young age, he's serious about this. It's almost scary to watch him, because I can't really get him to focus on much outside of Religion and space.

Thanks for all your replies.

I played soccer in a fairly competetive league when I was younger, and I also played softball in a very informal league. I hated the soccer and was a total disaster at it. The main reason I did it was to please my parents and because they thought I needed exercise. Exercise is great, but there are less painful ways of obtaining it. The fact that my teammates and coaches actually cared about the outcome of games so much just made it all worse. I just felt so bad whenever I was yelled at or criticized. I remember getting this terrible feeling of dread whenever I actually had to enter a game. I would have been quite happy to sit on the sidelines daydreaming and playing with pieces of grass the entire time, but of course the coaches felt obligated to give even the worst players x amount of playing time. I was really relieved when I was allowed to drop the whole playing soccer thing.

I actually liked playing softball, though. Just a completely different experience--relaxed and noncompetetive atmosphere, coaches who were actually nice and encouraging, etc. I was able to cope with making mistakes, because other people didn't make a big deal of them. I don't know how similar your son is to how I was as a kid, but if I were in your shoes I would encourage your son, but make sure that his coaches are treating him with kindness and sensitivity. What a coach might think of as constructive advice could very well be extremely hurtful to a young aspie. We tend to internalize criticism differently from our neurotypical peers, and it sounds like your son's coaches need to know that, and respect that.