Key Points:
- Real-world outings unlock hidden abilities: Community-based activities often reveal skills traditional therapy misses.
- Movement boosts more than fitness: Physical activities build confidence, flexibility, and joy.
- Inclusion leads to real opportunities: Trusted spaces open doors to jobs and relationships.
- You won’t know until you try: Trying new activities uncovers unexpected potential.
I’m going to be real with you. After being a part of J13’s community program and summer camp for adults with autism, I’ve learned that most of what we think we know about helping people with severe autism gets thrown out the window when you actually get them out into the real world.
We work with about a dozen adults each summer – some are nonverbal, some have serious behavior issues, pica, seizures, you name it. My own son fits into that category. But here’s what I’ve discovered about physical activities that nobody really talks about.
Why Everything Changes When You Leave the Building
Look, I get it. The idea of taking your adult child with severe autism rock climbing sounds completely nuts. Trust me, I thought the same thing. But here’s what happens when you stop trying to control every variable and actually let them experience real physical activities in community settings.
At the Crux Climbing Center, I watched my son go from absolutely refusing to even touch the wall to climbing 55-foot walls by himself. It took months, not days. But something clicked when he saw his buddies doing it. Suddenly this kid who needs help with everything wanted to try.
The real breakthrough came when he let go of the wall for the first time and realized he wasn’t falling – he was floating with that belay rope. He looked down at everyone, started waving and smiling. That’s when I knew we were onto something completely different than anything we’d tried in therapy rooms.
Trampoline Parks Aren’t Just for Kids
I’ll admit, walking into Altitude Activities with a group of adults with autism gets some looks. But you know what? After about ten minutes, nobody cares. These physical activities work because there’s something for everyone.
Some of our folks gravitate toward the basketball hoops, others just want to bounce. One guy discovered he’s actually pretty good at dodgeball – who knew? The point is, when you give people choices in a fun environment, they surprise you.
And here’s the kicker – they’re not just exercising. They’re problem-solving, adapting, building confidence. All while having a blast.
My Son Has a Real Job Now
This still blows my mind. My nonverbal son, who wears diapers at night and needs 24-hour supervision, has a paying job at the climbing gym. Above minimum wage. He sweeps, mops, does maintenance work. Takes breaks to climb when he wants to.
How did this happen? The people at Crux got to know him through our J13 and summer camp visits. They saw what he could do, not just what he couldn’t do. That’s the power of community-based physical activities – real relationships form, and real opportunities follow.
Getting Outside Changes Everything
Boggy Creek Farms taught me that physical activities don’t have to happen in gyms. Getting our group outside for farming, gardening, picnics – there’s something about being in nature that just works. Maybe it’s the sensory input, maybe it’s just being somewhere different.
The horse therapy at Healing with Horses surprised me too. My son never connected with dogs, but horses? Something about their size and calm energy just clicked for him. Not everyone in our group responds the same way, but that’s exactly the point – you don’t know until you try.
Bowling Looked Impossible Until It Wasn’t
Uncle Buck’s is this crazy bowling alley that looks like the inside of a fish tank – sharks on the ceiling, lights everywhere. I thought it would be sensory overload for our group. Wrong again.
Yeah, some folks need headphones for the noise. And we use ramps for people who don’t get the whole “throw the ball down the lane” concept. But watching someone who’s never bowled before knock down pins and get excited about it? That’s worth everything.
Morgan’s Wonderland Gets It Right
This Theme Park in San Antonio was built specifically for people with special needs. Real rides, real fun, but without the stuff that makes it impossible – like waiting in long lines or dealing with overwhelming crowds.
The hour and a half drive is worth it because our folks get to experience what everyone else gets to experience. They ride the train, go on the Ferris wheel, splash in the water park. They’re not sitting on the sidelines watching life happen.
Why This Actually Works
Here’s the thing about physical activities – the science backs up what I’m seeing. When people move their bodies, chemicals change in their brains. Endorphins flow. Anxiety decreases. But you know what the research doesn’t capture? The pure joy on someone’s face when they accomplish something they never thought they could do.
The social piece is huge too. Even our nonverbal participants are interacting differently when they’re out in these community settings. They’re watching, learning, adapting. They’re becoming more flexible because they’re experiencing new things regularly.
What Surprised Me Most
By the end of each summer, these aren’t the same people who started the camp. They’re more confident, less anxious about new situations, more engaged with life. But here’s what really gets me – the community changes too.
The staff at these places know our folks now. They wave when they see them, ask how they’re doing, including them naturally. That’s inclusion that actually works, not the theoretical stuff we talk about in meetings.
If You’re Thinking About This
Don’t overthink it. Find places in your community that are willing to work with you. Start small. A lot of climbing gyms, recreation centers, and specialized venues are more open than you’d expect.
The key is finding places where the staff understand that different doesn’t mean less capable. Where they’re willing to make simple accommodations without making a big deal about it.
What We’ve Learned
Through our work with John 13 and everything we document through Autism Labs, I keep coming back to this: you can’t know what someone is capable of until you give them the chance to show you.
My son is living proof that severe autism doesn’t mean severe limitations when you find the right opportunities. These physical activities aren’t just recreation – they’re life-changing experiences that open doors nobody expected to see opened.
Stop limiting what you think is possible. Get out there. Try stuff. Some of it won’t work, but some of it will absolutely blow your mind. That’s what makes all the difference.
Transcript:
Mike Carr (00:01):
Welcome back to another Autism Labs podcast. And while a lot of what we cover is the science and the technology and the use of ai, what I want to talk about today is what really helps someone with autism, what moves the needle? Because there’s a lot of science in theory, but when the boots are on the ground, you sort of get a different perspective. And we’re about to launch our summer camp this year. I think we’ve got a dozen or so adults with autism, some with severe profound autism, all kinds of behavior problems, nonverbal. But we also have some folks that are higher functioning. And when you pull all those people together and you get them out into the community, which what we’re going to be doing during this summer camp, you really do see what works and where the science and the theory falls short and where something truly amazing happens that maybe is supported by some of the research.
(00:59):
So lemme put up on the screen now sort of our summer schedule, and I want to take you through just a couple of weeks of the summer camp and talk to you about, we did this last year, some of the surprises and some of the things that have really made a difference. So you can see on the Monday here, the second we have the Crux climbing center listed, you’re saying, what in the world is that my child, my young adult’s never going to climb? And they do and they’re scared about it until they see a buddy doing it. And our son was the same way. He didn’t want to climb. He didn’t even understand why he would hold on to the wall at all. Took weeks. It actually took months. Months. Now he can climb a 55 foot wall by himself. He loves it. He doesn’t require much motivation, he doesn’t require treats.
(01:48):
But that idea that you put them in a setting out in the community and it’s fun, it’s different, it’s exciting, and they’re looking around and they’re seeing other people like them that they know sort of climb that wall. Well, they want to do it too. It looks sort of fun. And then they let go of the wall and they don’t fall. They’re sort of floating an air with that belay rope and that harness around them. Oh, this is sort of cool. And they’re looking down at everybody and they’re smiling at ’em and they get to wave and they wave back. Oh, this is sort of fun. So you put your child in a new situation that you as a parent have a lot of trepidation about, and you will see some things that are just amazing happen. Now there is research and there is science that does support community settings and how important it is to provide that social aspect.
(02:40):
And even for folks with autism that are a bit awkward when it comes to neurotypical social interactions, if you put them in a situation where they’re both neurotypical and neurodivergent folks in the same setting so they can see somehow how some of their divergent friends are acting and behaving, but they also can see some neurotypical folks are coming on over and wanting to help out belay them. It’s a marvelous mix of different people, different philosophies, different communication styles, and everybody’s there to help and make one another successful. So we’ve seen that happen. It’s happened over and over again and it’s super exciting. Now, on the next day, you can see on Wednesday the fourth, we’re taking everybody to altitude activities, trampoline park basketball, dodge ball, climbing wall and lunch. Very different than climbing up a wall. You’re bouncing up and down on trampolines, maybe playing some basketball, maybe playing some dodge ball.
(03:39):
So all kinds of different activities. But again, it’s this idea, expose your adult child to things that they’ve never been exposed before, but you think there might enjoy or you’re not even sure they’re going to enjoy it and watch what happens. And again, it’s that everybody’s doing it together. Some people are maybe a little freaked out. They don’t have to jump on the trampoline, they can go over and shoot baskets. But over the course of a few hours or half a day or a full day, everyone sort of gets used to it. It’s a very upbeat, positive atmosphere and you see things come alive in your kiddos that you didn’t even know was inside of them. They’re just natural human tendencies that desire to have fun, that desire to achieve that desire to really try harder than maybe you’ve ever seen them try before where there’s balancing on a trampoline, not falling over or falling over and just being silly and laughing about it.
(04:37):
Then we go back to the Clarks Climbing Center on the sixth, and then on the ninth, the Monday we’re going to Boggy Creek Farms. So this is outside gardening, learning about farming a picnic outside. The whole idea of back to nature. So this idea that you’re out with trees and sunshine and in Texas right now in Austin, Texas is pretty darn hot. So a lot of our activities are indoors, but they’re physical activities and they’re not isolated. We’re not in a cloistered setting where it’s only our group. We’re out there at a crux climbing gym with lots of other folks or at a trampoline park like the adaptive altitude with lots of other kiddos or at Boggy Creek Farms where there are other people having picnics too. So this idea that we’re not trying to sequester our people together by themselves, but we want them out there in the community.
(05:32):
And in some cases they may even have some jobs. They may be sweeping or mopping or raking or picking up trash. Our son’s been able to secure a job at above minimum wage, doing some of those things that a crux climbing gym. Here he is nonverbal. He needs somebody with him from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed, he has to wear a diaper at night. He has seizures, he has pica behavior. I mean the list of problems he has goes on and on and on and on. Yet he’s able to have a real job. And at the same time he has that real job. He’s able to take breaks and have some rec therapy, have some fun, whether it’s climbing or jumping on the trampolines or maybe going out in the park and having a picnic with the rest of his friends.
(06:12):
And so then we go back to the Crux Climbing Center and the next page we have healing with horses. So there’s been a lot of research done about animals and our son never really connected with dogs, but horses a little different. Horses are big, and just petting a horse is calming and the horse sort of senses who’s there. And this idea that you just meet the horse, you don’t have to get on the horse to ride the horse. We’re not thinking about doing that, at least not off the bat, but it’s more just a different setting exposure to something that they’ve never necessarily been up close to and see the magic happen. Now, not everyone is necessarily going to do well in each of these environments, but the whole point is you don’t know. And until you try it, you’ll be surprised. And if you’re not surprised, at least you gave it a shot.
(07:02):
And then we go to Uncle Buck’s, fish bowling on Wednesday the 18th. This is the coolest bowling alley I have ever seen. It’s like a big fish tank, all kinds of cool colors inside. They got these sharks up in the ceiling and lights everywhere and it’s fun. It’s different. It’s not noisy necessarily, but it can be. So if your child or your adult is sound sensitive, you have ’em wear the headphones, right? Or put the headset over their ears, but they’ll still have a great time and they get to do, again, do something that’s physical but not too physical. Bowling. For a while, Michael had to have a ramp because he didn’t understand where to throw the ball. And so you just give him a ramp and he just rolls the ball down the ramp and it just sort of goes down the alley and hits a couple of the pins.
(07:50):
But for the more physically active, they can really take that full swing with the arm. You can get a bit of a workout there, but again, it’s that social environment. You’re doing everything together. That’s fun. Then on Monday the 23rd, we’re going to Morgan’s Wonderland. This is down in San Antonio, Texas. So it’s a good probably hour and a half drive from where we are. But we’ve got a 15 person transit van. We take everybody in and it’s outside. They have some inside things too, but they’ve got a train, a Ferris wheel, all kinds of activities, rides, water waterpark, picnic. Again, Morgan’s Wonderland was specifically designed for folks that have special needs, that have intellectual development disabilities that maybe are autistic. And so it’s a place that’s sort of set up to provide the same theme park experience, a Six Flags or a Disneyland, but with accommodations for those that need maybe a little bit more help.
(08:50):
And it can’t stand in a line very long. And so each day we’re trying to do things that are different. Some days we go back to Crux Climbing Center because that’s been a proven deal for us. Sometimes we go to the trampoline center or outdoor to a park or to a Morgan’s Wonderland or to a horse, outdoor horse place where there are all kinds of animals, maybe not just even horses, but this idea that you provide an environment where there are a whole different set of experiences with not just your son or daughter, but with others with them, that they know that they get along well with and with staff that’s trained to watch out for behaviors before there’s a meltdown to step in and intervene when that’s necessary. So everyone’s got someone watching out for them, but they’re not just stuck indoors sitting down all day or half a day, not getting any physical activity.
(09:49):
So this is what we’ve discovered, and this is where I think some of the science and some of the therapy really does prove to be correct, is that physical activity makes a huge difference. Endorphins get flowing. There’s certain chemicals in the body that change when you’re out there doing things and not just sitting on your rear end all day, social big deal. Even if they can’t talk, this idea that they’re just with other folks, they’re out in the community doing things that are new and different. That new indifference is a big deal. Mentally stimulating, physically stimulating, they’re learning things, they’re adapting. They’re not quite as scared doing something that they’ve never done before. It can be fun, it can be joyous. So the idea is that the end of our summer camp, not only have they had a great time, but they’ve learned a lot, maybe even if they don’t know, they’ve learned a lot, they’ve formed some new friendships, they’ve been out in the community, and the community has seen them, and they’ve seen what’s out there in the real world, and they’re more excited about life.
(10:49):
They’re more tailored or in tune with new things. They’re not quite as stressed out. They’re not quite as scared when they’re put in a new situation because they’ve been in a lot of new situations for weeks now, and not maybe all of them have turned out great, but in general, it’s been a fun, exciting time. So that’s what we’re going to try to do this summer for about a dozen folks. We hope you give it the same try. If you are associated with an organization like ours, our group is john thirteen.org or J thirteen.org. And we’re doing this on Autism Labs because Autism Labs is all about sort of recording our successes and our failures and our learnings and technologies and other things that work well. Until next week, have a wonderful blessed time. See you.
