9 Reasons Autism and Basketball are Sweeter than Christmas Morning! And worth the wait!

9 is the number of years I have been exposing Nick to basketball and now in year 10 he's nailing it! Gooooooooooo Nick!!!

I watched Nick go from uninterested, to being afraid of the ball to now dribbling the ball up court and making the shot! 

So worth the wait. Never give up :) 

2 Things that Do Not Go Together: Autism and Sports....Until Now! This is a miracle moment for us :)

That's Nick on the left, in the background in the blue polo shirt and khaki pants!!!!

Autism and Surfing; A Must See Video of Pure Joy

This was one of our most special days. Nick loves the water and I always thought he would love surfing, but until some great folks showed up willing to teach him it just wasn't an option.

Overcoming Autism - Kicking the Winning Goal for His Team.

If you have not yet seen this, you've missed something special! A moment in time, a moment of hope, a moment like no other! :).

Overcoming Autism - Kicking the Winning Goal for His Team.Anthony Starego, who has battled autism, recently kicked a game-winning field goal to help his football team Brick win over the opposing Toms River North team.

Surfers for Autism....uplifting :)

Surfers for Autism - Treasure Island, FL June 25, 2011 - YouTube
► 7:06► 7:06	www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVQM4mlwwmAJun 26, 2011 - 7 min - Uploaded by dbuxton2 Bay Area Surfers for Autism - June 25 - Treasure Island Beach Children on the autism spectrum spend the ...

Yahoo! Nicky just rode his bike!

How exciting. Nicky just rode a two wheeler for the first time! We've been trying for years, but between lack of interest and not watching where he was going, we just couldn't get it off the ground.

For his birthday one of this therapist bought him a new bike. He practiced riding on Sunday, and today he went out and rode it on his own. And..he even watched where he was going. A miracle!

Drowning; leading cause of injury-related death in children with autism

I will never forget the day Nicky was walking back and forth between the pool and the spa and he fell in. He was not quite two and he walked back and forth, back and forth looking at the water, acting like he wanted to touch it, but not getting in. Seated 4 feet from him, I watched him go to the edge of the pool bend over, stare at the water, and then turn around and do the same thing on the edge of the spa. Back and forth he went for nearly an hour. Then on one trip to the edge of the spa he leaned just a little too far over the water and fell head over heals into the jacuzzi. I was right there, I walked right over to him and what I saw shocked me. Nicky, eyes wide open, was just floating to the bottom of a step in the spa. In this case the bottom was only about 1.5 feet but he did nothing he just sank, stared up at the sky through the water and didn't move. I jumped in pulled him out. He coughed and was fine. I was clearly more shaken than he was.

I understood at that moment why people say drowning is silent. There was no flapping of the arms, no struggle to stay above water just a silent trip to the bottom, where he would have quietly drown.

Nicky loves the water, and he thinks he is a better swimmer than he really is. He has no fear of the water and his favorite place to be is always in the deepest water. I am always on high alert and I've always felt our kids were at higher risk. When I saw this article I was blown away to see that drowning was the top accidental cause of death for children with autism, but I was not surprised.

In celebration of Autism Awareness month, please read this, and please pass it along.

The Risk of Drowning in Children with Autism
Too often children with autism who wander are attracted to water. Drowning is the leading cause of injury-related death in children with autism.
Read More

Nicky's Basketball Team Oozes Joy & Hits the National News

Wins and losses aren't part of the Balboa VIP, a basketball league for special-needs children.
Bill Plaschke
Basketball's championship week concluded Saturday with a result far more interesting than anything involving Kansas or Duke.

Would you believe a tie?

''Hmmm,'' said Coach Steve Siskin, glancing up at a scoreboard that blinked 36-36 on the side of Encino's Balboa Park gym

Basketball's championship week concluded Saturday with an award presentation far more exciting than anything at Madison Square Garden or Staples Center.

Would you believe the same trophies for everyone on both teams, every player sprinting across the court to grab identical statuettes as if they were personalized gold?

''Makes sense to me,'' Siskin said.

As he spoke, a player for the gold team was twirling around his trophy as if it were a tiny ballerina. A player for the purple team was using her trophy to corral everyone into a hug. A player wearing only a T-shirt had put down his trophy, picked up a piece of cake, and was skipping in place.

Talk about your big dance. You can have the Big East or the ACC. I'll take the Balboa VIP, a league for special-needs kids that held its second annual title game Saturday.

Talk about one shining moment. The Balboa VIP championship game gave you two red eyes full of them, a game featuring everything found in more traditional title games this weekend -- and blessedly less.

You want nicknames? There was the X-Box, Eagle Eyes, Big J, Big Z, kids made huge by Siskin's booming microphone work and a 13-week schedule that prepared them for this moment.

You want fastbreaks? The kids, ages 10 to 18, ran up and down the court for nearly an entire hour, seven on seven, taking the court in five-minute shifts, surrounded by coaches and helpers and two referees who just shrugged and smiled.

You want pressure? If a child pulled down a rebound in front of the basket, everyone surrounded them and chanted their name until they shot and scored. And they did score. Not only does everybody play, but everybody scores.

You want winning fans rushing the court? You should have seen the parents after the game ended, surrounding their kids like suburban parents everywhere, snapping photos, exchanging high fives, a wonderful moment of sweet routine.

You want meaningful postgame quotes? "I feel like I'm at home here,'' said Xavier ''X-Box'' Alfonso, 17. "This is one place I can be myself.''

You want a winner and a champion? Sorry. Not only is the scoreboard just for looks -- six points were added in the final second to make it a tie -- but so are the uniforms and teams.

Everyone here is on the same side, that of bringing a sense of acceptance and empowerment to challenge-filled lives. For an hour a week, this kids do exactly what thousands of other kids do on winter Saturday afternoons, in the same gym with the same uniforms, the only thing special being an insistence on passing the ball to anybody who hasn't scored, and uncanny ability to shoot the three.

"To see a kid hit a three and then hear the crowd roar, it raises the hair on the back of my neck,'' said Siskin, an Encino wealth manager with two able-bodied children who founded the league seven years ago. ''I would rather be here than at a Laker game.''

Siskin was coaching his son on a local youth team when the sister of one of his players kept showing up for the games. She was a child with Down syndrome, and after every game, she would ask him when it was her turn to play.

He couldn't find her an answer, so he created one himself, inviting her and her friends to scrimmage against his team. The word soon spread, and today there are 40 kids who practice once a week and play every Saturday, culminating in Saturday's second annual title game.

"Coach Steve is an absolutely amazing guy who is doing this for no other reason than the goodness of his heart,'' said Michael Gerety, whose daughter Katherine plays here. ''Not once does he treat them like they have special needs. He embraces them for who they are.''

There is Teddy Landes, 18, who, five years ago, was taught where to stand on the foul line while an opponent was shooting a free throw. Today, every time down the court, he runs to that same spot and smiles as if his team had just busted a bracket.

There is Alayna, who banked in a 15-footer and then proceeded to hug everyone around her while weeping tears of joy.

You didn't see any that anywhere else this weekend. This was the kind of scene that got the parents talking and eventually begging Siskin to keep the league running.

''Where else can they play?' said Siskin, who can be reached at sisko@ix.netcom.com. ''What else can I do?''

So, yep, in three weeks, the Balboa VIP League will start again, more tie games, more trophies, more big dancing, the road to the Final Four paved over by a circle of life.

bill.plaschke@latimes.com

Nicky's first day of a Team Sport - Lookout Basketball

Today was Nicky's first day on a basketball league and it was fantastic! It was so exciting, me and my boy at his first day of a team sport...WOW. He doesn't know how to play, but it didn't matter he had a great time running back and forth, up and down the court. He got three chances to shoot and we were both grinning from ear to ear! Everyone tell's me he'll be playing like a pro in a few weeks :) LOL. I'm just happy he was there, in the game.

Tiny back story a parent told me today. Its a small league run by volunteer coaches. The head coach used to coach a traditional boys team, and one of the boys had a sister with special needs. Every week this young girl would yell "coach when do I get to play". She apparently asked this question all season. At the end of the season the coach said, get a team together an I'll coach you. This began a team of kids with all types of disabilities that has now grown to over 40 kids at a local park. The coach volunteers his time and he is phenomenal. He was so excited to have us, I felt like Nicky was first draft choice, playing for the Lakers.

Thank God for the people who do, because they care and because they can. Thank you Julius for getting little man on the court!

Note: Many of our unique kids with ASD have barriers to being able to participate in team sports. For some kids they can't handle the loud noise. Other's can't process the language fast enough to follow commands that are essential to play, some don't have the motor skills and others don't have the ability to reference or anticipate other players actions. Nicky just can't stay focused and he doesn't anticipate others. I am sure he will get hit by many a basket ball while he's looking the other direction..or just jumping up and down thinking about what he wants to do next. BONK!!! When he roller skates, I pull him around the rink, he doesn't look at where he is going, his body goes one way while his eye's are looking all around. He's a danger on wheels, but we keep trying. Don't see a drivers license in his future!