Skateboarding & Autism; How Skateboarding can be a Life Changer for a Child With Autism
Over the last few years we’ve had a big focus on reaching kids and young people who have autism as well as other mental and physical disabilities. We’ve worked with special schools as well as regional sporting bodies to help us develop our programs.
It has been amazingly heart warming and encouraging to see what skateboarding can do for a young person living with a condition like autism. On one hand there are the pure physical benefits that come from being outside in the sun, moving their bodies, developing a range of motor skills and learning to control their movements in a co-ordinated way. Learning new tricks is in itself is also super rewarding and motivating. But then there is a whole other side which includes the mental and emotional benefits. These have been a real game changer to witness. We know that a child with autism may sometimes struggle in social settings and as a coach this has been the biggest area of improvement that I’ve witnessed in my skaters. The beauty of skateboarding is that is can be a social or individual sport on any given day. You can choose to engage with the other kids in the park or you can keep to yourself. The coach-student dynamic can also be beneficial for the child as they learn to willingly listen to instruction and trust that the guidance will be good and helpful for them. There is a lot of trust involved, during every lesson there will be multiple slightly scary or challenging moments and emotions the child will deal with but they learn to lean on me as their coach to guide them through it. It’s been so special to witness.
My hope for the kids that I work with is that they develop the skills to allow them to pick up a board and go for a cruise around their local park with out needing me there one day. Perhaps one day they’ll even learn to make friends at a park as they get older and as their social skills develop. It is also my goal to help them fall in love with a sport that gives them something healthy and exciting to be interested in.
What to Expect From a Skate Lesson for a Child With a Disability
It’s tricky to know how each child will react… So don’t worry! During the first few lessons the child and their coach will spend time getting to know each other, quite often the child may have never skated before so the first lesson sometimes goes great, or it doesn’t. Either way it’s ok! We don’t expect your child to listen for the full hour every time, especially not during their first lesson… Though sometimes (often) for some special reason skateboarding just clicks with certain kids and they love it from the get go. We just never know so we don’t expect anything and just test things out as we go.
My experience has been that the first lesson is about the child becoming comfortable with having their gear on, being in a new environment, and learning to work with me and trust me. That may happen in 2 minutes or it can take a lesson or two. Usually the issue isn’t a lack of interest or ability to learn to skate, that part seems to just come naturally.
How to Book a Skate Lesson
Follow this link to the booking page, it’s the same process and price as for anyone else though I do suggest calling us on 0220929121 to talk about what their coach should know about your child before the lesson starts so that they have some background information about your child so that they can help them better. It’s also nice to talk through any questions that you as their parent might have.
