Net gains: ACEing Autism helps children with disability on and off tennis court – Houston Chronicle

Tennis is cheered as a sport for everyone. Once played only by the elite, now people of all ages and abilities pick up a racket. The game comes with minimal risk of injury, and smashing balls after a tough day is both cathartic and social.

And because players are constantly pivoting, tennis builds muscle and stamina. Few other sports are as universal.

In northwest Houston, the benefits of tennis are extending to players who often are shut out of recreational sports. ACEing Autism teaches the fundamentals of the game to children with the fastest-growing developmental disability, one that impairs the communication and social skills often needed for sports.

“It’s common that a lot of kids with autism get left out of PE and the recreational sports lifestyle,” said Miles Vidreiro, ACEing Autism’s quality-control manager and a board-certified behavior analyst with a master’s degree in autism studies from Columbia University. “We’re using tennis as a way to work on fine and gross motor skills as well as other skills, like turn-taking.”

ACEing Autism’s local chapter is in its fourth year. It offers weekly classes year-round at Copperfield Racquet & Health Club. A program director and two alternating coaches oversee about a dozen volunteers who interact with the kids during warmups and guide them as they learn to hit volleys and groundstrokes. In the fall session that just wrapped up, six children took part in the first group, geared to ages 5-10; the second group, for ages 11-18, had 11 members (including this writer’s son).

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Sixteen-year-old Ryan Petty of Tomball had never picked up a tennis racket before starting with ACEing Autism a little more than a year ago. He fell in love with the game.

“He doesn’t get these opportunities at the high school because you have to try out,” his mother, Zelma Petty, said. ACEing Autism led Ryan not only to Special Olympics tennis but also basketball, golf and swimming.

“It helps him connect with other kids (at school) … He’s not just that kid down the hall,” his mother added. “It’s a connector, even if there are other differences. It boosts his confidence to know he’s good at something.”

ACEing Autism also is proving a conduit between Hayden Clark, 8, and his mother, Wendy Elsey, who live near Spring. Until two-and-a-half years ago, Hayden said only two or three words — not enough to talk about the sport Elsey has loved since she was 6. Intensive school-based therapy and a change in diet have made him a “chatterbox” able to engage in activities such as tennis.

“It’s hard to find programs to put an autistic child in to get exercise,” Elsey said. For now, Hayden most enjoys running and picking up the balls. But he’s beginning to like hitting them, too, and Elsey hopes they’ll be trading shots on a court one day soon.

ACEing Autism’s curriculum is designed so that people of varying abilities can play, according to Vidreiro, who was a Division I tennis player as a Monmouth University undergraduate.

More advanced players rally back and forth with a cadre of volunteers, mostly teens from Langham Creek High School’s Key Club and the Copperfield Tennis Academy. “At the lowest end,” Vidreiro said, “kids might be learning to catch, and it’s hand-over-hand” instruction.

A fitness component is included. “The kids are picking up the balls themselves, and a lot of the warmup is lunges and shuffling,” he said, along with exercises to improve hand-eye coordination.

Twins Scarlett and Amberly Virgadamo, 8, who attend Warner Elementary in Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, couldn’t have more different interests. Scarlett is in mainstream classes but suffers from testing anxiety. She enjoys gymnastics and dance. Amberly, who had cardiac issues and didn’t speak until she was 5½, loves riding horses and has a photographic memory.

“This is the one thing they can do together,” said their mother, Pam Virgadamo.

Michaiah Samson-Metzger, 10, of Sugar Land “loves the exercise part. … Come Thursday and Friday, he starts talking about tennis,” his father, Michael Samson-Metzger, said. Patrick Goen of Spring Branch has noticed the same excitement in his 7-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Goen: “When it’s time to go to tennis, she gets dressed. For everything else, it’s a big show.”

Goen touted the program’s approach. “They don’t push them too hard,” he said. “They kind of go at their own pace.”

At a class one recent morning, Tommy Pearl needed a little redirection. The west Houston 17-year-old was happily darting away from playing catch across the net with coach Jacob Kudrick.

“Every time you catch the ball and toss it back, you get a point,” Kudrick told him. “How many points should we go for?” “Seven,” Tommy replied. He was back in the game.

Later, practicing groundstrokes, Kudrick helped with his footwork. “You gotta swing, Tommy! You’ve gotta move those feet. You can’t just lean for it.”

Tommy focused and stepped into a forehand. “Perfect!” Kudrick yelled. Tommy smiled.

Those smiles motivate Abbey Faggard, 16, a volunteer since the spring of 2018.

“For these kids to be social with the volunteers and the other kids, it’s great to see them have that interaction. Whenever they finally hit the ball or get (a shot) down, it’s just awesome to see,” Abbey said. Whether it’s making contact with the ball, getting it over the net or sustaining a rally, “each individual has a different measure of success.”

Program director Anshu Sharma Parashar uses a similar yardstick. “Whenever the kids are happy and the parents say they want to come back, that’s success,” she said.

For Ryan, tennis may prove a lifelong pastime. Since joining ACEing Autism, he eats breakfast every day watching the Tennis Channel. His favorite pro player is Serena Williams.

“Whenever she hits the ball, she yells,” he said with a grin. “… The crowd goes wild when you score.” Now he has something he can talk about when “I play against my friends Abbey and Neil.”

Even if it doesn’t stick forever, for now these kids are part of a team. Each class ends with a huddle, hands in. The coach counts down from five, and all break in unison:

“We love tennis!”

suzanne.garofalo@chron.com