Do you have a very sporty asd child? If so..................

[someoneoutthere]

DS (almost 7) is naturally very sporty. Any sport he tries he seems to excel in it, so far we have tried swimming, gymnastics, ice skating, roller blading, tennis. Problem is although he is very good at sport, he does not have a competitive bone in his body. He enjoys individual sport, so we tend to take him to things where he can do things alone. We would like him to try some group sports, any ideas? He has been practicing football by himself and is getting very good at controlling it, but would not pass it to others. He is the same at basketball, good at shooting, but would not pass the ball around.

We think it will be good for him to join a team, but not sure what as he does not get the competitiveness.

Martial arts.

Team environment, but individual competition. And usually great for kids with asd type issues .

I know that's not the sort of team you meant, but could potentially be ideal.

My dd is 8 has ADHD and some as traits she excels at footy (on an all boys team) and does taekwondo and has won several championships. Both sports are great for her. Get him in a good footy/rugby team and he will excel. My dd is a defender and she loves the fact the other teams can never ever score past her ;)

My oldest son is 10 and NT. None of the children passed to each other until 8 or 9 and the two best strikers still never pass to anyone except each other. I wouldn't let that put you off they will just assume its macho arrogance!

You could try a Brazillian Soccer School which is much more based on skills, control etc

Dd1 is very sporty, she played mini rugby until 9 when it became contact tackles, before it was like tig with a ball. She had no idea what she was supposed to do most of the time but if she got the ball she would just run like hell to the try line

I would keep trying with the team games, your ds might take a little longer but it could be good for him, so long as he enjoys it.

DD (6.5) has ASp/ADHD and does:
Gaelic Football (reasonably well)
Hurling (VERY good)
Swimming (getting much better and can now actually swim and keep herself afloat - but much prefers underwater and is constantly diving)
Playball (has always got "does everything v well" reports)
Tennis (started at school last term and can hit the ball 50% of time in flight)
Badminton (just messing about at home - but similar to tennis)
Basketball (just messing about at home but very good at controlling it)
tried tae kwon do but gave up after a term
Does a lot of running on the green at home, and wants to join a running club.
Bodyboards when we are visiting my parents on West coast (no waves near us).

She does well 1:1 in drills and skills stuff.

She has though gotten much better at the team games in GAA. They are doing more work on playing as a team this year and, while she HAD been the same as them all (10 hurls in a huddle around the ball and the 2 goalies in spendid isolation on the rest of the pitch), she has started to stand back more in the past 2 months and stick to her position when she doesn't have the ball (relative rarity in the group).

None of the kids in her age group (born 2005) are really passing the ball to each other yet. The next age group (2004) are starting to (the "Mini All Ireland's" are on this week so I am seeing the older group), but not all the time there either. They start by concentrating on skills, then positions, then focussing on passing to others on the pitch, as they get older.

But DD is VERY competitive, no matter what she's playing - sports, nintendo, cards, board games, computer games (even manages to beat the iPod on connect4).

Thank you everyone. DS used to do jujitsu in a group, but there was a lot of waiting and sitting around for his turn, and he just got bored ( I suspect he is a little adhd and would stim by making noises). Chundle, does your dd do taekwondo in a group or 1:1? DS's gymnastics teacher is always talking about how good he is, that he could be a junior gymnastics champion if he wants to be. Here is something he is really good at, but he would not do it for the audience.

Ineedalife, DS has recently taken part in a swimming competition without realising he was competing. The challange was to collect toys from the bottom of the pool and he won it . DS would do exactly what your DD does, so great rugby here we come.

Agnes, I have never heard of Brazillian Soccer School, will do some phoning around today to see if there is any near us.Great to hear even NT children do the no passing around, DS is the first one for us and DD has been recommended extra classes for PE and swimming in her end of year report (which is very funny because she has come top of her class for everythingelse).

Madwoman, I think jujitsu and taekwondo are part of martial arts, he hated all the waiting around although enjoyed it when his turn came.DS used to do wrestling and loved it until he had to do tackles. He was doing great with tackling until he started to greet everybody with that. It was not a fun time for his little sister and it took us long time to realise why a child who was never agressive before suddenly started to lift people up and push them onto the floor . That was the end of his wrestling lessons and life is back to normal for us now.

Hi my dd does it in a group there is no waiting around though they all take part together doing line work she does it in an organisation called PUMA taekwondo. She takes part in the English championships this weekend!

With regards to footy my dd has played in a team the last two seasons and its only been really this last season at u8 level that they've finally started to pass the balk and thats been with over a years worth of coaching so I wouldn't worry too much!

Oh, have only ever seen classes where everyone is taking part together - no individual stuff or waiting around. Definitely need to check out the class first, then.

Usually the discipline side is paramount, so you shouldn't get the stuff you had with wrestling - most instructors are v clued in and let the kids know in uncertain terms that this stuff is for class and not to be used outside. V disciplined.

Sorry Biddypop, x-posted. DS would love Hurling, bodyboarding and running, so more things on the list to try. What is play ball?

Chundle, I think we need to find a smaller group for DS to do Taekwondo. We might have put him in the wrong group as it was a group of at least 20 children and in a 45 mins session at least 20 mins was waiting around.

Play ball is a multi-ball type sport thing. They use small and large balls, which are rolled, bounced, thrown, kicked, hit with a bat (possibly a tennis racket), aimed at hoops on the floor......

I don't know exactly, I just guess from the reports. It's an outside provider that comes into the afterschool club in the creche once a week (optional extra) which DD likes. I suspect it's mostly 1:1 stuff, between 2 kids for most or with the leader for batting practise.

(We are blessed with the creche, because they have about 4 or 5 different teachers coming in to do different extra activities with the school kids on different afternoons - ok we pay for them, but they aren't missing out on EVERYTHING in terms of classes cos they don't have SAHP to drive them to different activities. TKD, sppech and drama, computer explorers, playball, there was talk of ballet, and I think there's something else).

Oh yes bodyboarding/surfing is good too. We live in the west country and my dd comes surfing with me she loves it! Lots of surfing centres do free or discounted classes for SN kids

Football doesn't have to be as a striker etc. A dc fixated on keeping the ball out of the box/ net is a great asset to any team.

My 9 year old hfa son is very sporty and particularly enjoys cricket playing for a local team where notifying the coach, manager of his dx has not been necessary as he fits in with everyone else in the team. I think the fact that it is a structured team game with strict rules and discipline means that he knows where he is rather than randomly racing around a football pitch!

Ds does not get the rules of football yet, so we have taught him kicking and controlling the ball, may be he can play in the goalkeeper position. He is a very good runner, so rugby is probably more suitable, but he will give away the ball willingly if somebody tries to take it from him. We have not tried Cricket yet, not sure if we have a club near us.

Thank you everyone again, we tried bodyboarding this weekend and it was a hit, he was going within 5 minutes.