The Ice Man Cometh

Okay, I've never read that play so the reference probably isn't the best, although technically accurate. A few weeks ago I got a flier about a special needs ice hockey team. It stated that they would have limited space for non skaters so given that I would have to drive 30 min to get to the rink each week for practice and I didn't want S1 to take up space on the team if another skating kid wanted to play. Well, a few weeks into the "season" a friend of mine was telling me about how much her autistic son LOVED being on this new ice hockey team. I told her my reservations and she insisted that I try it out, that there were like three volunteers for every kid. So I called the people in charge, found out there was room on the team, and signed a zillion papers. Turns out that the team is sponsored by some corporations so it's basically free to the players - we had to buy a mouth guard (which he won't keep in of course), a cup (isn't his diaper enough padding?), and a hockey stick (which he absolutely LOVES - it also doubles as a guitar or a horse). He gets a helmet, skates, shin guards, gloves, shoulder/body pads and jersey from the team.

Well, the moment we went into the ice rink and S1 saw the ice, he ran for it. People were there for free skate still and he wanted to join them. We finally got him all in his gear and he loved getting onto the ice. Of course he had to have someone stand behind him and keep him up, but he loved it. Except for his helmet, he kept trying to rip that off. So we pulled him off the ice and got him a smaller helmet and exchanged the wire face guard for a clear Plexiglas one. While we were in the pro shop getting it all taken care of, I noticed that he was standing straight up on his hockey skates without any help or support! I was amazed. Then I couldn't believe it when he just started walking away and didn't fall down! Up until then we'd been helping him walk in his skates- it was kind of like watching Bambi first learn to stand up and walk. He was confident enough that he walked right out the proshop door, closed it and, from the other side of the glass,waved bye-bye, said bye out loud and took off practically running back to the ice. I was flabbergasted that he was able to adjust his balance and coordination that quickly.

Anyway, he got back out on the ice and was able to stand on the ice by himself with holding the wall for support. He laughed and smiled the rest of the time with his volunteer skating out on the ice. When practice was over and it was time to go home, we had to drag him off the ice to the changing room. Once there he cried as I took off his gear. He only stopped once he heard the word treat and happily took off with his helper while I collected the gear. After the treat when I tried to get him to leave, he just sat on the ground and tried to crawl away from me back to the rink. One of the other dads helped to get him up and out the door, where he became much more compliant.

So, much to my surprise and utter excitement, S1 loves to be on the ice. We'll see how he does this week.