Autism on the Ice - Special Needs Hockey

In fall '09 the Brick Hockey Club started something very special, a hockey clinic for children with Special Needs.

I had hoped to enroll my son in the program, but he clearly stated that he wasn't interested. "Alex doesn't like sports. Only Bowling - and sometimes Baseball", he said. After discussing it with my husband - we agreed not to push it. Though we both agreed that the physical activity would be good for him - especially because of his low tone muscles - it didn't seem worth the fight. Surprisingly - my daughter who has vision issues - really wanted to learn to ice skate and try out hockey. She has loved it and looks forward to going week after week - the only girl and the littlest player on the team.

On a few occasions we asked Alex if he would like to come and watch. He was vehement that he didn't want to. Last week they started a new 6 week session and the night before he announced, "Can Wall-E Ice Skate?". I took this as a sign that he was interested in trying to skate - himself. I didn't push it but when he asked again this weekend, "Can Wall-E go ice skating?"... I knew he was interested. So, I asked if he wanted to go to ice skating and he said, "yes!". I told him he could just watch or he could skate if he wanted to. So, this morning.. up and early we got up and I layered him up with warm clothes and warned him that the rink is very cold. I half expected he would bow out along the way - but he didn't. We put Wall-E in the pocket of his vest so that Wall-E could go skating with him.

When we got to the rink he did seem anxious. He was circling a bit in the locker room (the freezer) as I got his sister ready. A teen who volunteers attempted to assist him with getting his gear on but Alex wasn't the most compliant. Once Belle was ready to go, I focused on him and got him started with getting the gear on. I then turned him over to the volunteers who got his knee/shin guards and skates on him - and we found a helmet that would fit his very large head.

They started him out sitting in a chair and then pushing a chair. But, that didn't last long - he saw his little sister was up and skating (scoring goals) and he stood up on his own from the chair and wanted to shoot some goals too. The volunteer took turns having him push a chair and also supporting him to help him skate upright. He was very floppy and fell quite a bit. By the end of the hour he was exhausted and actually laid down on the ice. They helped him skate over to the door and he told me. "I won!". He was very tired, and he cried a little bit, but then he was very happy and said he had fun skating - I think he was just sheer exhausted. Overall it was a very good experience for him and I am hopeful that we'll do it again next week and for the remainder of the program.

Information about Brick Hockey Club Special Needs Hockey can be found at http://www.brickhockeyclub.com

Photos & Video from 2/28/10 Special Needs Hockey

Alex skating with the help of a caring volunteer














Both of my kids practicing scoring (Belle is in the purple jersey)














Video of Alex pushing a chair - first time standing up on skates. As you can hear - the ice rink is a loud arena. I fully expected that between the sensory issues that the gear (helmet, pads, skates) and the noise that he would really struggle. Once again, he surprised me.



Video of Alex skating with the help of a volunteer. For his first time on skates, I have to hand it to him!



For comparison - here is my daughter who started the program in late November. She loves to use the hockey stick!



Related Links:
Brick Special Needs Ice Hockey League
Overcoming vision challenges
Amblyopia on Ice