My oldest son is 11 years old and autistic. He's participated in various Special Olympics events over the years, but never got the opportunity to play baseball until this past Saturday, which was opening day for The Miracle League. It's a baseball league for special needs children, and is played on one of the local little league fields, so they get to interact with all of the "normal' kids. It's great, because Special Olympics events can feel kind of isolated from the "mainstream" kids.

Anyway, we had a blast, and I thought I'd share some pictures, which I've also posted to the Obner Flickr thang. One quick tear-inducing story, though...

One of the kids on my son's team is a wheelchair-bound five-year-old. After the first couple of innings, he decided he wanted to field first base without being in his wheelchair, so he was down on the ground and actually got to throw a couple of times to home plate. It took every ounce of strength for him to heave that ball, but damn if it didn't get there every time! But even more heart-wrenching was his final at-bat, in which he decided he wanted to actually "run" to first base after getting a hit. He's got legs, but only his upper body works, so imagine a tiny five-year-old dragging himself with his hands and arms from home plate the ENTIRE 90 FEET to first base!!! Man, I only WISH I had that much heart and determination.

Awesome. Made my day better.

It sounds cliche', but having a special needs kid and being around so many others really is more rewarding than I could have ever imagined. Puts shit in perspective, too.

No shit. Way to bring a tear to a glass eye on a Monday, Bobbo.

Big ups.

awesome, congrats bob!

seriously. awesome that you guys do shit like that. i was having a conversation like this the other night, what you would do if your child was born with any sort of serious problem, and i was of course disgusted by the random vandy people that talked about something like this as if it was seriously undesirable...like to point of putting the kid up for adoption.

obner, once again proving that there are good people in the world.

Oh, believe me, I'm no saint...in fact, it took me YEARS to really come to terms with this and embrace this for what it is, instead of hoping and praying for some sort of miracle cure or divine intervention that would make everything "normal." Everyone wants their children to be completely healthy with "zero defects," but you really end up learning a lot about yourself when you live with a situation like this.

There are still difficult times every now and then, but the rewards ultimately far outweigh any perceived negatives.

Hey Bob, just for the sake of discussion: What's your take on the whole thymerasol/autism issue?

congrats to you and your family. my mom was a special needs teacher (just retired). she had so many stories of parents that did not give two shits about their child. to hear your story and see how proud you are of him is great. thanks for sharing!

bob, you are a lucky guy.
what a great kid you've got and you're story is amazing.

my daugher has played soccer in the special olympics for 7 years now. she's on what's called a unified teaam where able and special needs kids play together. it's been a blessing to both of us for sure. there's nothing...nothing like seeing a kid in a walker wind his way down a field to score a goal. People cheer like mad.

crazy goodness.
way to go pops.

that baseballfield looks like it is from the future.

You know that "greatest dad ever" mug? This is the guy it was made for.

oh yeah, and i really love that photo of you and your son looking out on the field.

Not sure if I've heard anything regarding thymerasol. SHEFRAC is the house pharmacist, so to speak. For the past several years, he's been on Clonidine and Zyprexa. They both pile on the weight, unfortunately, but they help control his outbursts to a manageable level. We didn't want him to have to be on medicine, as we are NOT the people who think pills fix everything. But, of everything we've tried over the years (all with multiple doctor consultations/evaluations), these seem to work the best for him. I only wish he wasn't burdened with the extra lbs. that come as a result of those meds. Lord knows he's already going to have to fend off my fat gene as he gets older.

Definitely made this day a bit better. Suddenly I don't feel so pissy.

I appreciate the sentiment, Matt, but I assure you I'm not being modest when I say I can think of about 15,000,000 dads more deserving of that mug than me. Of course, I ain't gonna turn it down, neither.

Damn, Bob, way to make me cry on a Monday morning. You're an awesome dad!

btw, if you don't mind, I'm going to pass this thread along to one of my good friends who has a son with autism.

It cost $300,000. It's some sort of space-age polymer or high-tech padding surface to enable wheelchairs and walkers, etc. There apparently are only so many in existence right now, so we are extremely fortunate to reside in a town that actually has one.

Share the love, Dana.

So it sort of is form the future. That's cool.

That sounds AWESOME, Laura! I wish they had that down here...it would be great.

Awesome. Makes 18 K's seem like diddly. Most important thing, kid had fun. Second most important thing, he chose the right uni.

BTW, Bob, did you see the ESPN segment on autistic kids and surfing. There's a couple out in CA who run some sort of getaway. Seems to really do wonders for the kids.

I have seen my future, and it is FT. Thanks for the inpsiration, Bob.

Sounds cool. He loves the ocean. Even as a wee tot, he went WAYYYYY out in the water. This could be right up his alley. Thanks, Mike! Oh, and I knew you'd dig the duds.