Saturday 7 April 2018

Autism Awareness Blog Hop 2018


Thank you for visiting my blog post in the autism awareness blog hop 2018. It is always a privilege to take part in this event. You can find the link to R. J. Scott’s main post here.

Autism and Football
Football is a sport close to my heart. I have been a fan of the beautiful game for many years. The 2017/18 season is proving to be an exciting one as two of my teams have a chance of promotion. Cardiff City, the team I’ve supported since I was a teenager, are currently second in the Championship, and Accrington Stanley, my current home town team, are top of League Two. For those who have no idea about the structure of football in Britain, there are four main leagues, The Premiership, The Championship, League One and League Two. But what you may ask, has football got to do with autism?

As someone who attended games in the past, I’m aware of how crowded and loud football matches can be. Many people with autism would find it difficult to attend a game which is a shame. I did a little investigation and found that one Premiership team, Bournemouth FC, have decided to launch a campaign to make it easier for those with autism to attend. This campaign was launched last December with Harry Redknapp, a well-known manager. Bournemouth have created a toolkit which they are hoping other clubs will adopt. You can find information about the campaign here. 

If you are a supporter of a particular club, large or small, why not ask them to get involved?

Sport brings people together. It should be inclusive. Just to finish off, here is some information about autism in the UK.


Thank you for visiting. I will give a copy of a signed paperback of any of my books available in print to one person who comments on this post.

10 comments:

  1. Thank you for participating in RJ's Autism Awareness blog hop. Doing sports is important for every child, and why not for children with autism. And they can do it, if they have the proper guidance. In my country, it becomes more and more common for sports club to have teams for special needs children. Often in smaller teams and sometimes a slight alteration to the rules, but in essence, it is just like the the sports they know.
    Our hockey club was one of the first to have such a team, and our son was lucky to get in. He has learned so much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so good to see ports taking notice now.

      Delete
  2. thank you for participating in the hop. i have honestly herd of lots of places in north America now trying to do what you have high lighted in your post. i even herd of one mall inviting autistic children over to visit Santa clause before the mall opened so they could visit santa and not be stressed out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have shopping centres opening especially for parents to take autistic children. Such a great idea,

      Delete
    2. Hi Laurie you were picked to win a signed book of mine. I hope you see this. Let me know. You can email me at alexamilne1234@outlook.com

      Delete
  3. thank you so much for participating in the blog hop. I'm not a big fan of any particular sport, but I recognise playing a sport and being able to join clubs and attend matches would do a lot to help integrate people with Autism. And I agree, getting clubs involved (the larger the better) would do a lot of good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I believe sport should be open to all so Bournemouth's guide to help autistic children is important.

      Delete
  4. Thanks for the giveaway. I don't follow sports but I enjoyed reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for the post. I don't follow any sports but I think it would be great if more athletic leagues could do what the Bournemouth FC are doing for all individuals who can't attend games because certain stimuli/circumstances.

    ReplyDelete