Running on the Spectrum 🌈

[TailChaser]

I did something I haven’t done before today: I bought a Runners World magazine. Now, I haven’t bought a magazine in yonks, the internet and the library provide enough reading material for more than one lifetime. I just saw it and felt the urge. I’m so pleased I did though...

My eldest son is on the autistic spectrum and has always had trouble exercising. He hates the feeling of being out of breath 🤢, aching muscles scare him as do fast heart rates 💓. This has made sport at school almost impossible as they are only really interested in the high achievers (he’s at a mainstream school as he’s high functioning).

Thankfully he’s watched us progress with our running and feels he is missing out, and he is currently on Week 8 of C25K with his dad (hello Katnap !). He’s not the fastest pace but it’s something he is happy to analyse and notices that he has gradually improved. The fact that we can run together, have a natter and even race down one of Strava’s segments is now, frankly, amazing!

Tomorrow we do our first Parkrun as a family 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦. I’m keeping an open mind, I expect lots of stops along the way as it’s his Wk8 R3 and I don’t want to push him too much, but the fact that he’s happy to give it a go shows what C25K can do for someone with ASD (autism spectrum disorder): it has given him time to ease into it and it’s not such a shock to how he approaches things either physically or mentally.

He’s out at the moment but I’m going to leave the magazine on the kitchen table for him to browse through. He reads the back of a tissue box if there’s nothing else to read so I know he’ll look through it. There are lots of tips and websites to go, and even a Parkrun Facebook group for ‘People affected by Learning Disabilities and/or Autism’ which I never knew existed 🤷🏻‍♀️!

So anyone affected by ASD in any way, if that person hates exercise and you’re concerned about their future health, have a read of this Runner’s World article, it’s nearly as inspirational as C25K!

Happy running!!! 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️🚶🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️🦆

[Hidden]

Just to say our library app has magazines including runners world, download for free then return when you've finished with it. Check out your library, it surely can't just be in my county?

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Great idea Avocado 👍

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

Great read... enjoy that parkrun and finish as a family, that’s the kind of thing parkrun is all about. Your lad is doing great and breaking down some of his barriers, hat is off to him.

[Katnap Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Thanks UNM! TailChaser Katnap and kittens will be stormin' it for at least 2x parkruns on the (ahem) trot! 😸👏👏🏆

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Yes he is UNM, we’re very proud of him for crushing these particular demons. ASD can make you hyper anxious about certain things and worrying about what how his body felt when he exercised certainly fed those anxieties. Very much looking forward to that finish funnel tomorrow 😊

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to TailChaser]

Wish I could be handing the finish tokens out there. Demons are for slaying, one by one... it’s amazing how many differences C25K can make to people. I know he has thousands of other demons by definition, but every one banished is to be celebrated.

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Very much so UNM

[CatMo13 Graduate]

Brilliant! Enjoy your park run !

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to CatMo13]

Thanks CatMo 👍

[Katnap Graduate]

Maybe your kitten would like all the numbers and stats you get from a fitness app / watch?

[Dexy5 Graduate]

Its been great watching this story develop through the forum over the last few months Tailchaser and Katnap . Have a brilliant family parkrun tomorrow. We look forward to your post. I'll be virtually running with you in Southsea. 🏃🏻‍♂️🏃‍♀️🚶🏻‍♂️🏃🏻‍♂️

And what a good idea to leave a magazine lying around.

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to Dexy5]

Thanks Dexy, we’ll be in Bury St Edmunds, our first tourist run on the way to visiting grandparents. No PBs, just running together, just like the emojis 😊

[Dexy5 Graduate in reply to TailChaser]

And that’s what parkrun is all about.

[Sarakc Graduate]

Loved reading this! My son is on the spectrum too but unfortunately he absolutely hates any kind of sport! (He’s 14 and also at mainstream school) Enjoy your family Parkrun! 😀🏃‍♀️

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to Sarakc]

You never know Sara, our son did too and it’s taken us completely by surprise. He’s 16 and at 14 was the same as your son, wouldn’t even run for a bus. I can’t say he loves it now but he can see it doing him good now, without the pressures of school competition. I see it as exercise rather than ‘sport’. He has been volunteering at Parkrun too for a few months now (as part of a school volunteering scheme) and always said at the beginning that he would never do it...

[Sarakc Graduate in reply to TailChaser]

That’s encouraging! At the moment he’s very into drama and musicals and little interest in anything else but a couple of years ago it was lifts and shopping centres so you never know!!! ( My older brother who I am convinced is on the spectrum though never diagnosed got very into running in his late teens and got very involved in a running club! Looking back he was obsessed with league tables and results in any sport!!) 😀

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to Sarakc]

Lol! My older brother (56) is the same (also undiagnosed), he can remember the number plates of every car he’s ever owned and apparently could tell you what the car was by the noise it made when he was little. I had to buy my eldest a small teddy bear he found in the Oxfam shop yesterday, to add to his collection of cuddly toys 😆

[Besidetheseaside123 Graduate]

That's so lovely to hear. I read the article and found it really interesting as work with children with ASD. All the best for the park run 🏃

[TailChaser Graduate in reply to Besidetheseaside123]

Thanks Besidetheseasside!

I found the Tommy Des Brisay’s journey very inspiring and the description of him giggling and singing whilst everyone else was running was really funny (probably not meant to be but...)! My son quietly hums and whistles away to himself, it drives his schoolmates (and others, like in the quiet carriages of trains) mad so I know that scenario well.

Well, we did it and he ran most of it, even sprinted at the end and used the ‘enjoyed’ word afterwards!

He has watched as we’ve progressed so the idea has been planted in his head. He is very much like my brother in character (as mentioned I think he is undiagnosed ASD) but my brother was never encouraged to exercise, eat healthily or do things out of his comfort zone. Consequently he is now succumbing to all sorts of problems from his type 2 diabetes. Our father died of complications due to diabetes. I cannot watch my son also go through this, but I obviously couldn’t make him exercise if he didn’t want to. He knew he needed to do something and I think the gradual progression of C25K has helped set a routine that suits the rigidity of his thinking.

I really hope that we may be on to something here 😀🤞

[Besidetheseaside123 Graduate]

So glad it went well - here's to lots more family park runs! You sound like a great Mum, I hope your son carries on with the running, humming and whistling away.