Autistic DS and school football club

[sunnyfields25]

Hi

DS (5) has recently been diagnosed with autism, and also has dyspraxia. His school have just announced they'll be running an after-school football club for year one, one day a week, if we want to sign up for it.

DS has shown an interest in football when he's seen other kids playing at the park, although he's never properly played it before. But I think he'd enjoy the chance to do so. Is this a bad idea for a child with autism though (a team sport)? We're still finding our feet since the diagnosis and figuring out what works and what doesn't.

Thanks 🙂

This sounds like a great opportunity for him to learn football with a group of children he’s already familiar with. I’d give it a go if you think he’ll enjoy it, assuming he’s supported properly. Does he have a 1:1 TA?

Yes that's what I thought, he already knows them and they're all the same age as him. I've asked the school if the providers have experience of working with children with additional needs, so I'll see what they say when they get back to me. No 1-1 TA unfortunately, but we've recently submitted an application for an EHC needs assessment so we're really hoping that results in some 1-1 support. Although I reaise that's not much help at the moment!

It turns out DS doesn't like the idea of doing something like this without me there 😞

Ic DS doesn’t want to do this without you present have you considered looking for an ability counts team/session outside of school?