What a great story!

[Matt700wlw]

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/sto...C-EF50A0D8D673

It's good to see something like this in this day and age.

[flyer85]

amazing.

Better have him suited up for the next game.

[SunDeck]

Oh, that is so going to be made into a movie.

[max venable]

You guys remember this one (one of my all-time faves)
http://apse.dallasnews.com/contest/2...ns.first1.html

[Nugget]

Not meaning to be a party pooper but I think this masks a greater problem for persons with autism. Autism is greatly misunderstood and many people diagnosed with autism unfortunately are classified as being special needs and are treated differently. In many circumstances they can lead normal lives - autism is a diagnosis where certain parts of the brain have a higher level of function than normal. For instance, autistic persons can have a highly developed problem solving skill.

My question is why wasn't J'Mac in the team to begin with?

[Caseyfan21]

Wow, really amazing and even ironic to see this story here.

I frequently post at a Dave Matthews Band forum and one of the non-DMB discussion topics there is this. The kid that started it goes to that high school, knows this kid, and was at the game.

I think it's very cool to see this happening and the only question is why wasn't he suiting up earlier?

[Chip R]

I think it's very cool to see this happening and the only question is why wasn't he suiting up earlier?

Not scrappy enough? Didn't do the little things?

[Yachtzee]

I have cousin with autism and she is quite good at basketball. It helps that she's the tallest girl in her age group, but having austism hasn't affected her ability to play in any way. It mainly affects the way she learns and handles things emotionally, but it doesn't hurt her physical or mental abilities to play the game.

I'm with Nugget on this one. It's kind of sad that he wasn't given the opportunity to try out for the team in the first place.

[RedsManRick]

I have a little brother who has a genetic disorder which causes a wide variety of symptoms, many of which mirror autism. He plays a number of sports with the adapted teams and with special olympics. He has served as an assistant for the varsity team. 2 years ago, a group of kids at his school sort of adopted the adapated soccer team and attended all their games. My little brother has his own cheering section, signs and all. I can't begin to tell you what that meant to him.

Many of these kids go through hell on a daily basis and while they aren't 100% as perceptive as "normal" kids, they get it. It's particularly hard for Austistic kids who have a very difficult time expressing their emotions. What makes this a wonderful story isn't his accomlishment, which was awesome. It's the acceptance he got from his teammates and classmates. Many special needs kids never get that feeling of inclusion and are marginalized. That for a short bit, he got to feel like a king is wonderful.

[KronoRed]

Thanks for posting this Matt

[max venable]

Here's a great video link to this story...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBYPa...tball%20player

[IslandRed]

I saw the story on ESPN. I could be wrong, but I thought they said that (1) the boy is only around 5' 6" and (2) he had tried out for the JV team at some point and didn't make it. From the comments of his coaches and teammates -- paraphrased, "we were just hoping we'd get a chance for him to score somehow" -- I didn't get the impression that channeling Larry Bird was a normal thing for him. Which makes the story all the more heartwarming!