I will start by saying that I am not speaking for people who have this diagnosis, only from my experience as a therapist.
I was a 1:1 therapist and family counselor for children diagnosed with ASD and other developmental delays for years. Skateboarding was something that replaced a lot of nonfunctional sensory/repetitive behaviors and presented them many learning opportunities for learning coping mechanisms. It was all positive for the children who I worked with who had the motor skills to skateboard independently within the right environment(for them). It was amazing to see how much skateboarding changed their lives in a positive way.
They could have been having a bad day(like anyone else) and the happiness they got just by pushing down the street was something that would remind me of why skateboarding doesn’t give a fuck who a person is, it is just there for people to enjoy. Skateboarding brings out a lot of emotions and for the children I worked with, it taught them how to identify those emotions and what to do with those emotions(of course with a program I designed for them to do so with my supervision and guidance).Also, there are so many social learning opportunities such as interacting with people at a skate shop to buy product or other kids at the skate park. ( if they are on the more verbal end of the spectrum)
There was some “ex-pro” bmx BCBA I worked with that did something similar with biking for the families he worked with. My hope is that now that skating is more mainstream, we will see more skaters in these professions who have a similar approach and therapy model.
For the people self diagnosing themselves, here is an article relating to the DSM-5 criteria for diagnosing an individual with ASD. If you really think you fit these, then by all means go see a neurologist and also get a functional behavioral assessment done by a panel of OT, SLP and BCBA who are clinically trained to do so.
https://depts.washington.edu/dbpeds/Screening%20Tools/DSM-5(ASD.Guidelines)Feb2013.pdf
This is something that should be spoken more about with this trend in mental health within the skateboard community. After all, skateboarding is a unifying tool for all.
thanks for this post.
i was more or less diagnosed as a child, but didn't know that until my mother disclosed this to me as an adult as my parents sort of called bullshit on the diagnosis. i've seen some therapists briefly and they also suggested that i am probably on the less severe part of the spectrum. my parents/father didn't accept that anything might be wrong with me and he still doesn't. he doesn't believe in neurological or psychological disorders. i remember i had to learn and internalize stuff like greeting people, keep up eye contact in conversations(which still freaks me out), and all those "normal" customs, as well as not taking every question literally. i was also very non verbal outside of the house or anywhere i felt uncomfortable. which was anywhere that was not our house. it's weird because now i get really pissed when people don't reciprocate that with me because it's hard for me to abide to all these norms and i sort of take it personal when people just disregard them while i work to/manage to get it done.
for the time when my parents apparently were still open to me being on the spectrum they sent me to play with other autistic kids and i often found there's some sort of mutual understanding or vibe when people on the spectrum meet. almost like in that bubble everyone seems kind of normal? not sure how to describe it. it's kind of cool actually.
i feel like skateboarding helped me become more normal in a sense while keeping the weirdness that is kind of cool. it made me also a bit more free in mind and less closed up. i felt at home with this pack of misfits. i was still the odd one out in the crew pretty often. and since i love to do repetitive things, i had no problem practicing the same trick the whole day. or doing the same trick the whole day. i learned a lot of tricks that way. i also felt less like an outcast overall, it seems that as a skater, you can get away with acting younger and being a bit weird and stuff. i played lots of teamsports and generally did all types of sport but never fit into a team because i had trouble making friends or connections through it other than the people i already was friends with outside anyway.
for me the hardest thing still is that sometimes masking up and trying to fit in is just super exhausting. i get really tired after too much social interaction and then i am literally out of words or energy to give real responses. i used to abuse alcohol heavily throughout my 20s and that helped a lot, but now i don't drink like that anymore(means i don't get drunk, only have a beer here and there), i can't keep up. like clubs and parties are just too much for me, i usually only go when it's some sort of obligation and then i stay for an hour and then bounce cause i'm literally depleted. i have three or four smalltalks, that usually go bad cause i don't know how to do small talk and keep the convo up. and then all i want is to get home and be alone again.
this extends to the internet as well, but i feel very home at here for example, and feeling comfortable makes it easier for me to keep up. also it's easier for me to write considerate responses since i can take my time.
the thing i dislike the most about being that way is that i am incredibly flakey. all this stuff basically leads to social anxiety because i overthink all the possible scenarios in social spaces a lot. and this leads to me often calling off any sort of date right before, because i'm panicking that i'm unprepared, or i already feel depleted of words or feelings. and it gets so bad that i get physical symptoms like nausea, heavy sweating,
or i have to pee every ten minutes, as if my body won't let me leave the house.
also i have a hard time dealing with a full mailbox, or any type of messenger program where you can be hit up at any time.
Love you, Frank
<3 u too bud
Topic: skating on the spectrum (Read 3942 times)