Wanting To Be Part of Something
January 15, 2008 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Yes it’s for the exercise and with the hope of Charlie picking up some new skills of catching and throwing and shooting: These are all reasons why we signed Charlie up for Special Olympics basketball. But it’s also for the reason that Gemma Gallagher states on watching her 14-year-old son, David, playing basketball with the University of Albany women’s basketball team:
“Often while watching David, I can see that he wants to be a part of something, but doesn’t have the ability to relate mutually with others…….In reality autism interferes with having real friendships. We’ve just been watching and enjoying today so much. Just seeing him smile makes this a good day.”
Charlie did not walk up to any kids last Wednesday and say “hi” but his eager smile told us he was glad to be there. A girl about his height with Down Syndrome tried to get his attention to hold up his arms to catch a pass; a boy on the spectrum who was a bit older called “Charlie, run! Run, Charlie, run!” (they were both the last to start and finish).
Charlie and I are meeting Jim at the mall tonight to get basketball sneakers: Tomorrow night he’ll be running with the team.
Awesome! I am so happy for Charlie. It sounds like it will be a great time for all of you. Have fun buying the sneakers!
As long as he keeps smiling and having fun with the other kids I think the basketball is a Wonderful thing! (of course a scowl or frown on occasion may happen, but hopefully you and Jim can help him work out a way to deal with the off moments.)
Go Charlie go! I look forward to following his progress (on and off the court, of course).
this sounds wonderful! i’m excited for charlie and can’t wait to hear more!
I’m excited for Charlie! What an exciting, fun and hopefully rewarding adventure to try.
He kept the new shoes on from the time we got them at Foot Locker till it was time for shower and bed!
Have you considered setting up a basketball goal out on the driveway? I somewhat enjoyed, when young, trying to get the ball into the basket. The team aspects, not so much.
Glad to hear he’s trying this!
Cliff
It’s been many years now, but Z always looked forward to the various sports seasons with “Challenged Youth” sports in NJ. I’m not sure how much he got from the sports part, but he loved being there. He may not have interacted with the other kids much, but he got something out of just being with them.
Here in STL he participated in Special Olympics track one year. Now that he is in High School, he is thinking about trying out for the track team. We’ll see how it goes.
This is great. No matter who you are, there’s nothing like finding a place to have fun and fit in.
We got a hoop for Charlie a year ago but had to leave it behind when we moved out of my in-laws’ house. There’s a quiet parking lot now outside our condo — we could get the hoop but I think that might be a bit of a project! But we can certainly work on dribbling, throwing, passing, catching.