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I have a 9-year old son who has
wrestled for four years, and has befriended a fellow
classmate with autism for the past three years.
When my son first told us about this boy in his class,
we (my wife and I) told him about autism, and how God
wants us to be friends with everyone, and especially
be there to "defend" those that might not
be able to
defend themselves. My son has always been the
aggressive, "typical" boy type, and when he
came home
one day telling me how he would play with this boy
instead of playing "sports" with his other
friends, it
was very moving. When my son then talked about
wanting to have "play time" at his house and
visa-versa, I thought that was great, but I felt
cautious at the same time.
Today, my wife and his mom are the best of friends
-
everyone even comes to watch my son's wrestling
matches at the Saturday tournaments in Oklahoma! To
see my 9-year old son show the intensity needed to
wrestle in open tournaments, and then play with one
of
his best friends who happens to have autism ... well,
words can't describe it!
What a great link - wrestling and autism!
Steve Kalmeyer
Oklahoma City, OK
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