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The Autism Community Has Two Success Stories

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The Autism Community Has Two Success Stories

 

Here are two names you may want to memorize… Kalin Bennett and Tarik El-Abour.

Who is Kalin Bennett?

He’s an eighteen-year-old with autism from Little Rock, Arkansas who just signed a Division One Letter of Intent to play basketball at Kent State University.

Kalin didn’t walk until he was four and didn’t talk until he was seven. He graduated from high school with decent grades. And, a lot of accolades for his on-the-court abilities.

Kent State is a great school for athletics, but also quite progressive in autism. They have two programs that deal directly with students on the autism spectrum.

Who is Tarik El-Abour?

He’s from San Marino, California. He played independent baseball for a few years (small colleges and the Empire League) until (last spring) he was signed by a U.S. professional baseball team (the Kansas City Royals). It is believed that El-Abour is the first ever baseball signing of a player with autism.

Both of these young men tug at my heartstrings.

Autism and sports together. Successfully.

Being an athlete, I can’t explain how important this is to our autism community and to society.

These young people have talents. They’re being rewarded for those talents.

They have a diagnosis, too.

But, that is not holding either of them back.

They are succeeding with their talents within their autism.

I am right there to root them on. The Autism Community Has Two Success Stories

 

More on Kimberly Kaplan:

To purchase “Two Years Autism Blogs Featured on ModernMom.com”

or “A Parentsʼ Guide to Early Autism Intervention” visit Amazon (print or digital) or Smashwords

Twitter: tipsautismmom

LinkedIn: Kimberly Kaplan

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Kim and her husband cared for their son with autism, Kim was led back into writing. She wrote about her son's journey with autism which includes her son's struggles, the parental learning curve, their good fortunes...and a myriad of missteps. The resulting book "A Parents' Guide to Early Autism Intervention" has helped many parents with young children on the autism spectrum. She followed that book with another autism-related book, "Two Years of Autism Blogs Featured on ModernMom.com." Kim continues to be active in the autism world. She blogs weekly for Modernmom.com as well as her own website. Her screenplay writing has blossomed with the addition of many autistic characters. She was featured on Shannon Penrod's show, "Autism Live." She volunteers and attends conferences as well as helps parents whenever she can.