Tennis program aims to help autistic children with their social and motor skills

By Staff Writer

A college in California has launched a tennis program designed for children who have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The Daily Bruin reports that the school has partnered with the nonprofit group ACEing Autism to provide the Los Angeles community with an adaptive tennis course, which is a 10-week program for autistic kids between the ages of four and 18. The initiative's organizer said that recreational activity has therepeutic value because children with an ASD can work on their social and fine motor skills.

Vivian Lew, a professor at the Los Angeles-based school, has a five-year-old daughter who participates in the tennis program. Lew told the news source that she has not been able to find a program in the Southern California region that is better suited for her daughter.

ACEing Autism currently has two programs in Boston and one in Los Angeles. The group's founders told the news provider that they hope to expand it nationally. The tennis staff works on a volunteer basis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that an average of one in 110 children in the U.S. have an ASD.