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I love belko61
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29 Mar 2020, 1:50 pm

I sucked at sports but still enjoyed some aspects of it. Quit altogether once school started to get competitive. If I threw a ball it didn't even mark an arch, but I remember hitting a baseball in middle school and was so excited I threw the bat!
Now I have pretty good balance, endurance and coordination but still don't play sports (I'm not competitive). I love being outdoors and walking. Biking too but I prefer to walk.

I assume aspies can be very good at most sports if they take it as an interest in it. Focus, attention to details, admiring skill, technique. Even comments about body tone - you might start off awkward but tone improves by doing. And being active improves your happiness level, it really does feel good! I get to eat more (eating like a bird sucks), I get fresh air and sunshine regularly, there is a rhythm that is very soothing.



rick42
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29 Mar 2020, 2:01 pm

I say it's possible for someone with Asperger Syndrome to be athletic and be good at sports,tho not as likely as normal people.With that said tho,I actually used to be okay at basketball when I was a lot younger.Still like watching basketball games to this day,tho a bit less compared to back in the days.



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29 Mar 2020, 6:06 pm

I have posted a lot of articles in this thread about people on the spectrum that have been very successful at sports. Most often they have had success at solo sports but some have done well in team sports also.


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11 Mar 2021, 7:19 am

Highland strongman Tom "The Albatross" Stoltman opens up on autism and living with the condition by sharing his thoughts in two videos on Facebook

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Invergordon strongman Tom Stoltman has opened up by sharing his thoughts on autism, living with the condition and how it affects him by sharing two videos on his Facebook page.

The 26-year-old gentle giant, who is the world's second strongest man and known professionally as The Albatross, is a campaigner for people living with mental health issues and autism.

In the shorter video he is pictured talking directly at the camera and in the second he speaks with his wife Sinéad about living with someone with autism.

Mr Stoltman, trains with brother Luke – who is known as The Highland Oak and is also a hugely successful strongest man competitor – at their specially built fitness centre in Invergordon.

However, speaking frankly, he said that he had found the past couple of months particularly tough during the latest Covid-19 lockdown.

He said: "Obviously I've opened up and tried to get autism out there around the world but people don't see what's going on off camera. They see the lifting weights, the fun stuff we do on You Tube, but they don't see if you are depressed, sad or stressed etc.

With my autism the last month or two I have been struggling big time. I think this is the worst it has been since maybe I started Strongman."

Mr Stoltman said he liked to make a plan for each day and he would go over it two or three times, to put himself at ease, but lately this had been getting worse.

He said his wife had helped and added: "Sinead, she is an amazing person, she's lived with me for eight or nine years and knows how I function and obviously people who have autism and people who live with people who have autism do really struggle sometimes.

"I can frustrate her with the things I go over for example I will go over, over, over things – there's a bill to pay and we have to pay this Monday and this could be a Friday and Saturday, Sunday, every day I will keep saying it until it's done.

"It's just getting a bit worse just now you know? I am lucky I have the gym and lucky I am keeping my mind busy because I can see it in myself that people are getting frustrated with me."

He admitted that even during the video he was repeating himself which could be because he was nervous talking to the camera. He added: "But now I just want to put this out there and to anyone that has got autism to reach out and if there are any carers, parents or partners living with anyone who has autism reach out to me as well because I know so much about it because I have got it."


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02 May 2021, 8:32 am

Horse riding champion overcomes the stigma of Aspergers

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Carrie Daignault is comfortable riding horses — something she's been doing since she was young.

"I think they are gorgeous animals. I love the way they move. I love their personality," Daignault said.

As a kid, Carrie was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. And through the 4-H program, Carrie not only learned about herself, but she found a way to connect — not only with people, but the horses she rides.

"The big misconception with autism is that we don't have empathy and we don't connect with others," Daignault said. "And actually, there are more studies that are showing the opposite. That we actually feel empathy, sympathy more intensely than normal people."

At her side all those many years teaching her how to ride was her coach, Chrystal Barrigar, who after a decade of teaching Carrie, probably knows her as well as anyone. But there's one moment that stands out to Chrystal the most where the two of them cemented their bond.

"Carrie is not a hugger. That is something that is difficult for her," Barrigar said. "And she would always say 'I'm not a hugger, but I'm letting you know I'm saying goodbye.' And then the day she came up to me and she goes 'alright, bring it in. And she wanted a hug.' "

As that passion and confidence in horse riding in Carrie continued to grow, Carrie defied the stigmas that surrounded autism and rode in competitions. And she ended up winning.

"You've heard of the Triple Crown. Well, she'd end up winning in English, Western and Gymkhana, which was a really rare thing to do in 4-H," Barrigar said. "And so we joked that she got the Triple Crown."


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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03 May 2021, 9:25 pm

FFS.. sometimes I get so frustrated with others on the spectrum who seem to be accepted that we're incapable of the same things as NTs even though most of us s probably f*****g different or weird!

Vent over..



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31 May 2021, 9:00 am

It’s going to be a movement’: Northern California autistic wrestlers thrive on the mat

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After school, the air is thick inside the Chico High wrestling room. Wrestlers pair off honing their takedowns and mat skills. Music blares through the speakers.

Shane Blocker and Isham Parea-Hood take turns shooting at each other’s legs. The two are entangled practicing with intensity. Both are slightly out of breath and sweaty but are still putting in maximum effort at practice.


Blocker and Parea-Hood are both grapplers for the Chico High wrestling team, but wrestling is much more to them. It’s not just a sport, it’s become an essential part of their lives for their social and emotional growth. Blocker and Parea-Hood have both been diagnosed with autism.

There are now three wrestlers — Blocker, Parea-Hood and Darian Cox — as well as one assistant coach — Joe Wesley — who are on the autism spectrum and are part of the wrestling team.


“Some of the things that might hold them back are really a strength in wrestling. They’re obsessive about working hard and getting their drilling in and doing things right. They never miss practice,” said Chico High wrestling coach Keith Rollins.

Rollins, who’s been teaching within Chico Unified School District since 2006, has often encouraged those diagnosed with autism to join the wrestling team. Rollins said he wants kids to find their niche.

“(Wrestling) is not just practice during the week and watch your team play Friday night. You get to participate and compete,” Rollins said. “Those sports that are individual sports are the ones for kids if they just want to be a part of something. The kids that are on the spectrum that have joined wrestling here, not only have they done well, they’ve really started to excel.”

Blocker, a senior, started wrestling his sophomore year.

Blocker said his autism affects his time management and his communication skills. He said he struggled to get down the basic moves of wrestling like the shot, where a wrestler attacks the legs. However, he was still determined to keep getting better and didn’t give up learning the maneuver.

“It doesn’t matter how you start out. It doesn’t matter how good or bad you were in your first year. If you keep working hard you can get better,” Blocker said. “My first year I didn’t win many matches. I lost way more matches than I won. By my second year, I was much better. It felt great to get my first win. It felt like I accomplished something.”

Parea-Hood discovered wrestling on the internet when he was in eighth grade. He joined the Chico High wrestling team as a freshman.

“I get to take people down and throw people around without getting in trouble,” Parea-Hood said. “It was intimidating at first. When I got my first match I thought ‘Hey this is fun.’”

Cox is a junior who’s balancing both running track and wrestling.

Cox said wrestling has helped him make friends. The sport has helped him thrive socially and physically.

“Darian is off the charts strong,” Rollins said.

Joe Wesley was a freshman at Chico High when Rollins made the pitch for him to join the wrestling team.

“He might struggle with written school work but he can kinesthetically do things so well and so quickly,” Rollins said.

Wesley first declined to join the wrestling team thinking it wasn’t for him.

“Why are people picking each other up with their legs and throwing them on the ground? It looks like it hurts,” Wesley recalled saying. “I wanted to go home and play video games.”

But Wesley has always liked incentives and a promise made by a family friend of a dozen peanut butter cookies after each week he stayed on the wrestling team couldn’t be turned down.

“It was my first time getting slammed on the ground. But I got my cookies. I stayed another week,” Wesley said. “It’s good exercise. It’s something to do between football and track season. I was hooked.”

Growing up, Wesley was originally diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome.

“In elementary school when you had signs like I had, you’d be sent to the principal’s office because no one knew what to do about it,” Wesley said.

It wasn’t until he was in eighth grade when he was diagnosed with high-functioning autism.

When he joined the wrestling team, he could socialize with others and it became a relaxing environment. After he graduated high school, he became an assistant coach in 2012. Wesley helps run practice and often live streams matches and tournaments during the season.

“It helps me relax just a little bit. I get to hang out with my friends and knowing that someone cares about me. That’s pretty cool,” Wesley said. “Keith Rollins and (coach Jordan) Mathews they’re like fathers to me.”

Rollins said Wesley, Blocker, Parea-Hood and Cox have never missed a practice. The wrestling room and being part of the team have helped each of them thrive, Rollins said.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for some kids down the road who felt like they were held back with autism. They see this and think maybe I can do track or wrestling and really succeed,” Rollins said. “It just shows that kids on the spectrum can really succeed in the right environment.”


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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31 May 2021, 10:18 am

If anyone had bothered to test my hand-eye-coordination, as a kid, they would have realized it was almost a cruel to throw a baseball at me as it would be a blind person 8O. I was also very slim with exercise intolerance. So that made most team sports torture for me. "Picked last for the team" is putting it mildly. There was another obvious aspie who was sometimes in gym class with me, and as I remember it they would pick him over me.

That didn't mean I didn't like sports that I could do. As others have stated, the brain regulating effects of physical activity draws me to the sports I am capable of. Of course, anything requiring coordination, I was late to learn: Cycling, swimming, water skiing. I did run the track team in middle school, but was not a winner.

I am now competitive as a runner and have been since middle age. Although, I do get comments of my poor running form - A shoe salesman once tried to steer me away from minimalism running shoes after I did a demo run in the store :roll:. My bodies poor ability to store much fat became an advantage when I got to the age when the opposite becomes a problem for many runners. I also lose muscle fast when not training, so I have plenty of incentive to keep at it.


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31 May 2021, 12:48 pm

Ahh, Rasslin'. About grade 10, I had no appreciation for fitness, and was content to always run dead last in the warm-up lap for Physical Education. Then it was time to learn wrestling, and we were paired off with approximately equal partners. Unfortunately for me, the other non-athlete was obese. We were practising a way to trip one's opponent and fall on them, and I was getting tired of being fallen upon. So, since I didn't think he was doing it right, I tried not getting tripped, and he fell over by himself. I didn't know we had an audience, though, which was hard on him.



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31 May 2021, 11:03 pm

Dear_one wrote:
As a youth, I thought that physical effort was a sign of technical incompetence. I had no problem about always running last in PE warm-up laps.


As a kid I was clumsy and so I often had a doctor's note for reason of torn/sprained/broken something or other, whether via PE class or otherwise. I had poor hand eye coordination. I even got KO'd during dodgeball one time. Out cold. Despite that, when I did participate I was pretty ok. My upper body strength was not much to speak of, but I could outrun everyone but two kids in my year and I was pretty good at the broad jump and long jump. In high school I found what eventually became my main sport and started putting my time and effort into it more wholeheartedly. I have been in 3 competitor pools for the US team selection in this sport since 2014. I was selected for the US 2020 team, but the international cup got delayed due to COVID and now it's unclear when it will be held. Probably they will trial another team. As such, I am supposed to go back to competing shortly but I feel rusty and out of practice. I'm not sure if that was the end for my athletic career. If so, it was a good run.



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24 Jun 2021, 7:18 am

Juanita Webster-Freeman is not letting autism slow her down as she goes for a spot on the U.S. Olympic track team

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Her Olympic dream began at the age of nine and now 23-year old Juanita Webster-Freeman is moving closer to making that a reality.

The Santa Barbara Track Club rising star is competing this weekend at the U.S. Olympic track and field team trials in the heptathlon in Eugene, Oregon.

She has Asperger's syndrome which is part of a broader diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Among other things social interactions and nonverbal cues can be difficult.

"It's really hard to connect to people on the outside world so I have to really put on a mask and try to be normal because I am not normal I am actually different and it's ok," said Webster-Freeman.

But she shines on the track where the high jump and javelin are two of her strengths in the heptathlon which consists of seven-events.

She qualified for the team trials in May even though she is still rather new to the heptathlon.

"Juanita is by no means even scratched the surface of what she is capable of if she were to as we say in the sport put it all together," says Santa Barbara Track Club Executive Director and Head Coach Josh Priester.

Juanita first saw the Olympics on television as a kid and now she wants to make it for herself and for others who have autism spectrum disorder.

"We don't have that many resources for people on the autism spectrum and honestly the little help that we have from people is a really big thing," began Webster-Freeman. "I am one of those people that is going to be big for people for me."

I hate those “not letting autism slow her down”, “despite autism”, “overcame autism” type headlines.
Go Juanita


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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26 Jun 2021, 6:59 am

Tom Stoltman: Scot lifts World's Strongest Man title

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Tom Stoltman has become the first Scot to win the World's Strongest Man title.
The 6ft 8in, 397lb (180kg) athlete from Invergordon won the competition at Sacramento in California.

The 27-year-old is already a Scotland's Strongest Man title holder and the younger brother of five-times Scotland's Strongest Man Luke Stoltman.
He has often spoken about living with autism, saying that when he was a teenager he was unable to go outside on his own

The contests included deadlifts, pushing a steam locomotive and log lifts.
Tom - known on the strongman circuit as The Albatross - is a specialist at the Atlas Stones event. It involves lifting and carrying over a distance five spherical stones which increase in weight.

Growing up, Tom described himself as being "football daft" and he would miss school to play or watch football.

He said his passion for the game, along with support from his parents, wider family and others, helped him manage the effects of autism

Tom told BBC Breakfast: "Autism is a big part of my life.
"I struggled in school, would lock myself in my room and didn't have any friends. Then I found sport, first football and then the gym and I started to get more confidence, talking to more people and loving what I was doing."

Congratulations Tom.


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13 Aug 2021, 6:37 am

Armani Williams Makes NASCAR History With Truck Series Start

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The Camping World Truck Series playoffs will begin on Friday, Aug. 20, with the Gateway 200 presented by CK Power at the World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway in Madison, Ill. Armani Williams will make his Truck Series debut and will make history as NASCAR’s first driver diagnosed on the autism spectrum.

According to a press release, Williams will join Reaume Brothers Racing for the historic event and will control the No. 33 truck. The 21-year-old previously made two starts in the ARCA Menards Series in 2020, finishing 17th at Phoenix in the No. 01 Centria Autism Ford and 10th at Michigan in the No. 12 Centria Autism Chevrolet. Now he will face off with the biggest stars in the Truck Series.

The Truck Series playoff race at the World Wide Technology Raceway At Gateway will take place on Friday, Aug. 20, at 9 p.m. ET. FS1 will broadcast the race with MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio providing audio coverage.

According to the press release from Reaume Brothers Racing, Williams discovered NASCAR as a child and became extremely interested in the sport. He officially began his journey at the age of eight by racing go-karts.

This is a dream come true having the opportunity to make my debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Gateway,” Williams added in the press release. “When I got the call from my dad, I was overcome with emotion. Many years of hard work, along with the support of my family, friends, and fans have made this possible. And of course, I have to thank Reaume Brothers Racing for believing in me and giving me this incredible opportunity.”

When Williams climbs into the No. 33 RBR truck, he will face off with some big names. The 10-driver field features some grizzled veterans, intriguing youngsters, and a former Cup Series rookie who moved back to the Truck Series to pursue a championship.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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13 Aug 2021, 6:57 am

Never ever did love team sports but I was a very talented skateboarder as a teenager. Even won a few comps! :D



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01 Sep 2021, 6:43 am

While representing U.S. athletes with autism, Breanna Clark breaks Paralympic record

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For Breanna Clark, victory dances are what fans have now grown to expect. Tuesday at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, it happened once more in the Tokyo rain as the west coast sprinter took gold in the Women’s 400m Race- T20, setting a new world record, 55.18 seconds.

Halfway into the way into the sprint, Clark took a commanding lead, and held on for the remained of the race. Even though she grew tired at the end, because of her take-off in the first 200 meters, she had enough energy left to set a new world record- 55.19, a time shattered by .8 seconds.

While mother-turned-coach Rosalyn (a 1976 Olympic silver medalist herself) watched from the stands, family members from Country Club Hills, Ind. were cheering emphatically on national television. Immediately after the race, celebratory dance moves from Breanna followed.


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23 Sep 2021, 6:00 am

Sam Holness becomes the first known triathlete with autism to complete Ironman 70.3 World Championship

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When Sam Holness crossed the finish line for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in St. George, Utah, on Saturday, he became the first known triathlete with autism to compete in one of the sport's marquee races

The 27-year-old British triathlete, who has autism spectrum disorder, has been training for this moment for more than a year. The race consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run.

Sam did it while also encountering rain, lightning and even a sandstorm. The gravity of what was accomplished is not lost on him.

“I feel very proud," he said in an interview with CBS News on Wednesday, along with his father and coach, Tony. "I'm happy and I can't wait to get back to training."

Sam completed the race in 5 hours and 44 minutes and competed with some of the best in his age category, Tony said.

The father-son duo is far from done. Sam aims to be the first professional triathlete with autism and will compete in the London Marathon virtually on October 3, and then another Ironman race in Portugal on October 24. Their goal is to continue to inspire others.

"If you can just inspire people and raise the awareness of autism, help employers to start recruiting more people on the spectrum and do it through sport, and that's narrowing it down to what our mission is and what we want to do," Tony said.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman