Anyone's kids play team sports?

Re: Anyone's kids play team sports?

• typeset member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  I can't tag her, but @lite-bright should have some input.

  
  

  11/10/10 The Kid

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• MirandaHobbes member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  No team sports here- DS detests any type of "team" game like dodgeball or kickball so we have stuck with individual sports like swimming. I have been feeling guilty that we haven't exposed DS to any team sports- and hearing the success of @Lite-brightDD in soccor is inspiring! We just had a playdate with a peer who is one of 3 boys in the family. The two typical kids are in an endless list of traveling sports and the youngest (2nd grade ASD) has entered the fray. He does Karate and Swim Team through a private club. He is becoming quite athletic and is very competitive according to his mom- team sports just aren't his thing. He is still learning discipline, sportsmanship, and coordination. We live near lakes and swim every weekend at the Y so swimming will be DS' thing along with possibly running (he's done a fun run with me and likes to go on short jogs). DH is a golf fanatic and I just bought DS a nice kid's size set of clubs at a thrift shop.. I hope the two of them can find some common ground although if our last trip to the miniature golf course was indication it may be awhile..

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• typeset member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  We do gymnastics and riding. Adding swim for the summer. Warily eyeballing t-ball or soccer. 
  
  Husband is pushing the team sports. He played football as a kid and still plays basketball. The private PT I consulted gave me a Look when I mentioned that before responding how difficult those activities are. He's slowly letting go of the coaching dream (at least with this kid--don't get me started on the unspoken hopes pinned on my uterine occupant), but I don't think he understands how disastrous this could be. The kid can't stand still and kick a ball, largely because he has zero motivation to do so. Add poor tracking, hypotonia, social issues, over-reactions to criticism ... The only saving grace is that he's still so little the other kids won't pick on him yet? Right? 
  
  
  

  
  

  11/10/10 The Kid

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• Princess_Lily member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Not dx'd right now. I'm not sure of DX yet but he does have low muscle tone in his upper body.
  
  For us we know DS does quite well in individual sports where his low muscle tone doesn't interfere or make him anxious with people around.
  
  We have done a trial and error approach to sports.
  
  Swimming is wonderful, and we noticed golf is a great sport too. I may look into karate too. Other than that, Im concerned about the physically intensity that comes with sports like football, soccer and lacrosse.

   
  

    

   
  

  
  

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• macchiatto member

  March 2014 edited March 2014

  Hey lady, it's good to see you! It's been a long time since we've caught up so I just found out from your other post about one of your girls being diagnosed with ASD. And congrats on Baby #3!  

  
  

  For us, we have one NT twin who is very high energy and very athletic. Then one twin who is kind of right on the border for AS and has a lot of the issues auntie mentioned: hypotonia, poor motor planning, some difficulty in reading social cues, plus low energy and just a lack of interest.

  
  

  We tried T-ball last summer. (They were 4.5.) It was good for the NT twin and kind of disastrous for our twin with SN. He would sit in the infield with his glove off, facing away from the batter. He would complain about being SO tired and SO hot and was always trying to just sit on the sidelines with me instead. He would tell us, "I don't run anymore; it makes me too tired." And he did almost zero interacting with his teammates. We were talking about T-ball for this year and (no surprise) he let me know that this year he just wanted to sit on my lap and watch his brother play. 

  
  

  My Gym classes and swim lessons have been a much better fit for him. We also plan to try karate. There is a karate instructor near here who is supposedly really good with kids on spectrum or other SN. I know a lot of MoMs who try to put their kids in the same activities for a while for simplicity's sake but I just don't think that's going to work for my boys for much longer b/c I think team sports will be a great fit for my NT twin but not at all for his brother.
  

  
  

  fraternal twin boys born january 2009

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• hopanka member

  March 2014

  DS takes group tennis lessons, so its a hybrid. Enough social interaction with a few other kids ( they do things like the king of the hill), yet it is still an individual sport. He loves it. What helps is that he is one of the best players on his little team, so its also a confidence booster. Its paying off now since I started teaching him at 2 years old.

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