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Another Rite of Passage
Jun. 26th, 2006 08:31 amYesterday was the last baseball game of the season. Unfortunately several kids weren't there, and out team lost.
Charlie got tagged out once, and the second time he was running and forgot to drop the bat, and the husband shouted at him to drop the bat, which confused him, because people were also shouting at him to run, you know, for encouragement, so he stopped running to put the bat down and got tagged out*. "It was just a mistake!" he said in a tearful voice when he was told he was out. Not the best way to end a season, but he's really done so well, and I told him he should be proud of that.
After the game, and we were walking to the car, Charlie burst into tears. Not because of the tagged out thing, but because he was sad baseball was over.
I am too, really. It was fun, sitting with the other parents and chatting, cheering on our boys, joking about how boring the game was. Mostly however, it was nothing if not pure joy to see the look of utter happiness on Charlie's face every time he played. He really listened and learned, and got better at the game every day. More importantly, he really interacted with his teammates; and for a child with Autism that in itself is an amazing thing.
He stayed incredibly focused, too, which puts paid to his case-worker's theory that he needs Ridelin in school. He doesn't need drugs, he needs to learn how to follow something that doesn't interest him as well as he follows things that does. But then, what kid doesn't?
His coaches were probably the best coaches in the history of coaching. There was not one instance of anyone getting on anyone's case for missing a ball, or striking out. The kids, taking their cues from the grownups, encouraged each other, and supported each other and exlemplified the whole point of Little League - to teamwork and to discover the joy of the game.
Well done, Retrospect.
*Because it takes time for Charlie to process things, and if he gets too many instructions at once, it confuses him. Some people can parallel process. He can't.
Charlie got tagged out once, and the second time he was running and forgot to drop the bat, and the husband shouted at him to drop the bat, which confused him, because people were also shouting at him to run, you know, for encouragement, so he stopped running to put the bat down and got tagged out*. "It was just a mistake!" he said in a tearful voice when he was told he was out. Not the best way to end a season, but he's really done so well, and I told him he should be proud of that.
After the game, and we were walking to the car, Charlie burst into tears. Not because of the tagged out thing, but because he was sad baseball was over.
I am too, really. It was fun, sitting with the other parents and chatting, cheering on our boys, joking about how boring the game was. Mostly however, it was nothing if not pure joy to see the look of utter happiness on Charlie's face every time he played. He really listened and learned, and got better at the game every day. More importantly, he really interacted with his teammates; and for a child with Autism that in itself is an amazing thing.
He stayed incredibly focused, too, which puts paid to his case-worker's theory that he needs Ridelin in school. He doesn't need drugs, he needs to learn how to follow something that doesn't interest him as well as he follows things that does. But then, what kid doesn't?
His coaches were probably the best coaches in the history of coaching. There was not one instance of anyone getting on anyone's case for missing a ball, or striking out. The kids, taking their cues from the grownups, encouraged each other, and supported each other and exlemplified the whole point of Little League - to teamwork and to discover the joy of the game.
Well done, Retrospect.
*Because it takes time for Charlie to process things, and if he gets too many instructions at once, it confuses him. Some people can parallel process. He can't.
