Son is playing American Football - any tips on how to help

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Hi,

My 9 year old son with aspergers was really eager to try american football and so we signed him up. It is the first week of practice and he definitely is struggling to keep up with the others. He is significanly slower and less coordinate then the other kids. Are there any techniques or activities anyone recommends to help him improve his overall coordination, speed and agility?

He has been in occupational therapy before and has played a variety of sports his entire life. I know he has sensory processing issues and low tone, and I've heard that lots of times the vestibular system may be the issue.

I have seen him run fast at times (we would time him and his sister in races and he seemed to get into the time keeping element and would try to beat his time). He is also ok at basketball, but this year I'm noticing the others kids having a level of aggression and speed that is starting to cause him to struggle.

I want to be sure sports are a positive for him, so any tips would be appreciated.

Protein and vitamin supplements. No other sporty activities like swimming or bike riding on practice and game days .Other than that he should get enough exercise at practice to make him tired. If not, he needs to do more up downs.

Even having an interest in sports is fairly rare among those with AS (though I had a friend once I'm sure was on the spectrum who collected reams of data on Baseball statistics, though I doubt he'd ever played the game in his life), an actual Aspergian athlete is even more rare, but there are a few who post here, so maybe someone can help.

Some of us do solitary exercise like weight training, but my experience with sports growing up was being forced by my parents to join a team and picked on by the jocks for being clumsy, so sports left a bad taste in my mouth very early on.

You might try being sure the coaching staff knows of his challenges, but my own experience was much like Willard's. Ultimately, I suspect your son might do better in a non-contact sport such as archery or something where requirements for inter-personal strategies and physical stamina are minimal.

I will argue, as an adult with recently learned high function AS and someone who played & coached both youth and high school football to allow him to play as long as it something he wants to do, enjoys, etc. I use lessons learned on the gridiron every day of my life....I cannot say the same about any other interest/activity.

If this is his 1st year his AS may possibly have very little to do with his lack of coordination in equipment, etc. Hopefully he & your family are in a good situation with the coaches/etc. I would definitely make sure the coaches know about his AS.

Just keep at it. It takes a while to learn how to block & tackle safely and aggressively.

For what its worth, I actually found as a coach the kids with various ADD/ADHD/etc issues to be better on defense than offense. Their job was to run to the ball & make the tackle, which for the most part seemed to click.

Feel free to PM me with any concerns/questions, but please try to keep him involved. It will do him wonders as far as learning how to "turn things off & on" inside instantly & reapeatedly, etc.

I appreciate everyone's thoughts on this topic. I understand team sports are a struggle for kids with AS and my son is no exception. Yesterday at football he got lost for a minute after a drill change (there are hundreds of kids at practices as they have all grades together), but the coaches pointed him in the right direction and he got it figured out. While I understand he will always struggle with athletics, while he is interested and asking to play I feel as a parent I should encourage him to do so. The fact he is out there and trying makes me very proud even if he is the slowest kid.

As his parent I am trying to understand what role I should play. I'd be interested in what others with aspergers would have wanted their parents to do. Right now we are just trying to support and encourage him, but we are not doing much else. I worry about his ability to keep pace with the other kids who all run faster and are more coordinated. I don't want him to lose confidence over time as he notices this more, but I don't also want to push him and get him frustrated.

I'm wondering if there is anything more I should be doing. Is there any kind of exercises or things that can help. I've read a lot about the vestibular system being less mature in asperger's kids and he was diagnosed with sensory issues and saw an occupational therapist when he was younger. I assume playing sports should only help him with this, just wondering if I should be doing more to help him.

As far as protein and nutrition go, food has always been a challenge with him. It's basically pancakes every morning. Lunch and dinner are usually one of about 4 selections - chicken nuggets, subway subs, tacos, or hot dogs. Funny thing is when he was younger he was more adventurous. Used to love Indian and Thai food. However, over time his food selections have narrowed. Tried a little protein powder in milk a few times but he didn't care for it.

Max - the baby bird is testing his wings for the first time. Its natural to feel like you do. The drills/exercises he needs will be provided by the coaching staff. He now has a new family (the team) and new authority figures (coaches) in his life. This is going to be, as long as he is interested, having fun & has a good group of coaches, very good for him on all counts.

So what if he is the slowest? How many other kids his age or older aren't even out there?

As far as diet it sounds like any other kid. It would not surprise me if his appetite increases. Kids that age have metabolisms off the charts. He doesn't need protein powder.

Your posts sound like you are fixating on anything & everything about this focused subject that can be done, which ironically is classic AS.

It sounds like he is doing OK so far, but you could very easily turn him off to all of this if you persist with the drills, diet, etc. Let him find his way & just support him by getting him where he needs to be on time.

It sounds like you have a lot of energy. Perhaps get involved with the parents/boosters? Youth teams can ALWAYS use more hands.

Thanks Thumper, I think that is good advice. I will just relax and not worry about it. Like you said most other kids aren't out there trying and the last thing I would want to do would be to cause him to lose interest.

I would assume that having the coaches know about it would definitely help.

I have to get this out of the way, first - on the topic of slow speed, does he have a correct (or at least, reasonable) running style? For the first 16 years of my life, I was never taught how to run correctly, and attributing my more awkward running style to AS, I was significantly much slower than everyone else. As a wide receiver, I was sent to run with the linemen. When we eventually got a new coach during my second-to-last year, he made it a part of early training to show everyone how to run correctly. This helped me tremendously. I may not have been one of the top runners still, but I could at least then stay in my position's running group.

I know this probably isn't as valid in this case, as this was in middle/high school, not elementary school-age. But at 9 while I was playing baseball, I didn't know how to run correctly and I was still the slowest, so if anything, that's the one thing to pay attention for.

As far as American Football goes... I don't know what else I could really mention. I heard that starting physical contact (instead of receiving physical contact) with others is difficult for those with AS or autism, and found that to apply to me; I didn't have any problems being tackled or being hit after a bit, but I could never tackle or hit myself. It was more or less awkward. In this case, I found the Wide Receiver position to work better for me. Possibly, Quarter Back or Running Back could work as well, but for that you'd need a significant skill in throwing or running/being durable.

Hope I helped a bit.

As is the key to everything: Repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.

What position is he playing? Maybe he's not in a position that's best suited for his strengths?

Be encourging and suportive. Never be negative.