We tried soccer with Jonah when he was in preschool. It didn't work. He tackled the other players instead of kicking the ball and emptied his teammates' water bottles on the sidelines. I spent the majority of the games yelling at him from the other side of the field because he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do.
Since that time, we've been a little nervous about typical organized sports. His OT, Miss Kim, has always discouraged us, explaining that his ability to think about plays while trying to fulfill his sensory needs, wouldn't really work. He'd end up doing what he wanted to do on the field and not really following the coaches' plans. It made since to me so Tae-Kwon-Do has been his sport, and we haven't felt the need to do anything "typical."
Until now. Jonah really wanted to play football this year. I was nervous about it. He's on a team with a lot of this friends, and I told the coach beforehand that the best place for him was on defense. If he could just run after the kid with the ball and pull his flag, then I thought he would do well.
Jonah successfully managed his first football game today, and we couldn't be more proud! He did what he was supposed to do. He was appropriately aggressive. He tried hard. He didn't make bad choices. And he fit in with all the other boys!
