A way to break autism's grip?

Life can be rather hard for parents with an autistic child. Even everyday activities such as eating, playing and making friends, can turn into difficult challenges. Both parents and children need specialist advice and support, but the truth is that very few autistic children are able to attend schools designed to meet their needs, or are able to take part in care programmes that could help them develop their full potential. The result is that parents and children end up living isolated lives, full of anxiety and frustration.
Autism and Asperger Syndrome affect a person's ability to communicate, understand language, play, interact with others and form relationships. The term Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a broad definition of autism, including the classical form of the disorder, as well as closely related disabilities that share many of the core characteristics of autism. The Scottish Society for Autism estimates there are 46,167 people in Scotland with ASD; within the City of Glasgow, the prevalence of ASD is over 5,000 of the total population.
The causes of autism are still unknown, though what we do know is that there's no cure. But specialised education and structured support can help maximise a child's skills and minimise any behaviour problems.
This is what a project launched by Cartha Queens Park Rugby Football Club is aiming to do, by researching the effects of introducing young people with ASD to rugby football in a club environment. "The idea for this project came to us from one of our youth section organisers," recounts Alan Irons, a member of Cartha Queens Park RFC, "He has a son who is autistic, and used to take him to specific sessions for ASD children at Scotstoun. But he was also involved with our football club, as his other son came here. Over at Scotstoun, the parents turned up with their youngsters and spent an hour and a half at whatever the activity was but, when they were finished, they all went their separate ways, so there was no socialising."
The idea soon expanded into a scheme with a precise objective: seeing if the behaviour of children with ASD could be changed over a period of weeks with rugby coaching in the Club environment, where youngsters could mix and parents could get to know each other. "The project was arranged in three phases," explains Irons, who is also the funding administrator for the project, "In the first phase we identified the youngsters who were to take part in the scheme from a variety of sources, including areas of deprivation. We spoke to their parents and carried out a sort of interview questionnaire with them. The second phase consisted of carrying out the rugby coaching over a 6-7 week period with specialist sessions. The parents met before and after these sessions and got a chance to exchange ideas in the environment of the Club. The third and last phase was a sort of post-project assessment, where we interviewed the parents again to see whether they had seen any change in their children's behaviour, attitude, self-confidence and self-esteem."
No one had ever done this kind of work before and Community Scotland, a body funded by the Scottish Executive, acknowledged this by awarding a grant of £9,870 to Cartha Queens Park RFC to develop the initiative.
The medical aspect of the scheme is being led by Duncan Clark, the Clinical Director of NHS Lanarkshire Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service. While the coaching sessions are now coming to an end, the medical report should be finished before Christmas and its official launch should take place in January. But what is the ultimate goal of this scheme? "We don't expect all these youngsters to develop to the same extent, but we're hoping that, out of the twenty or so youngsters, a handful will be able to progress and move into the mainstream rugby coaching for their age group within the Club," Irons says. "We really hope we can make a difference for children with autism, improving the quality of their lives, self-esteem, confidence and their interaction with other people."
Cartha Queens Park's unique initiative is an excellent way to help parents and children with ASD emerging from the awful isolation they are trapped in. The "added value" of the scheme is that it definitely brings something new and ambitious to Glasgow.