Autism, sport and physical activity.

The second week of the curling season and I'm exhausted already.  Yesterday I went on a course related to Autism in sport.  Autism, which I hadn't heard of ten years ago seems now to be a more common condition.  I had two reasons for enrolling on the course; one being that we have a number of young curlers who have the condition, but mainly because four years ago, my granddaughter was diagnosed as being very high functioning autistic.  You wouldn't initially know she was different until she perhaps began to ad lib into a conversation you were having, or refused to order her own meal in a restaurant - not common for a sixteen year old.  I wanted to find out more about the condition in order to help her, but one other symptom of the condition is that you may not want help. 
The lady taking the course was autistic.  She was wonderful, explaining in plain terms the agony it was causing her to come to speak to us - although she has been doing this for a number of years.  It is called a spectrum disorder as it covers a vast range of disability and no two people need be the same. After a morning spent in the classroom, a small group of young children (6 - 10 year olds) were brought to the class by their parents in the afternoon to take part in a Taekwondo lesson followed by rugby - in the pouring rain.  The coaches who were taking these activities had obviously listened well and coped with the one or two problems that arose.  
I think this is training that should be available to every classroom teacher in the UK as it may help teachers understand why a pupil may be disruptive in the class.