Surfers Healing Cracks the Shell of Autism

Mission Viejo, Calif. -- Being the parent of a child with autism is a challenge in many ways. We are constantly in search of things to crack the shell that keeps our kids cut off from the rest of the world.

My son’s "happy place" is the water, so you would assume that going to the beach would be a blast for our family. Well ... actually, no. The sound of the ocean is more than the sensory processing center in his brain can handle and usually sends him into a meltdown of epic proportions. So we go to pools, Lake Mission Viejo, RSM Beach Club and Baby Beach in Dana Point.

A couple months ago a group of moms with autistic children told me about Surfers Healing, and I signed Franklin up for the day camp. When the day arrived, I was a nervous wreck. In preparation for the day, I had been trying to desensitize his nervous system, so I took him every night down to Aliso Creek Beach and let him play on the play equipment. After the fifth day in a row, he quit plugging his ears and crying; he had gotten used to the roar of the ocean, apparently—a good thing, because the next day was Surfers Healing camp.

My husband and I headed down to Doheny with Franklin and some of our family friends who have kids with autism. We were all anxious and nervous and had a lot of fear and hope. I watched other kids go out into the ocean and come out more relaxed and aware. I saw some kids really fretting about the water but after much coaxing were able to go into the surf. Different kids came out.

As we were waiting our turn down at the shore, Franklin was getting a little anxious and whiny. The volunteer called our name, ripped him out of my arms and sent him out into the ocean with a surfer, who put him on a long board. He was paddling out within five seconds of being taken from me. Wait—did I really just hand my child off to a stranger who threw him into heavy surfer with another stranger? I heard no crazy meltdown or crying from him. My little 4½-year-old non-verbal autistic son got three 200-yard rides into the shore with Puna, his surfer from Hawaii.

Son With Autism Finds Peace on the Waves

Came across this first-person piece by Tim Haddock, a contributor to the high schools blog for ESPNLosAngeles.com.

MALIBU, Calif. -- There's something incredibly calming about hearing the sounds of ocean waves crashing on the shore. Early Saturday morning, I was on the beach in Malibu, watching a group of locals surfing and riding the waves on a cold and cloudy day.
On the horizon, a storm crept closer to shore, the only disturbance on an otherwise peaceful scene. In a matter of hours, a storm of children were expected to crash Surfrider Beach, the site of the annual Surfers Healing camp. My 10-year-old son Ryan, most of the time a quiet, solitary soul, was one of those children.

Surfer Rides Waves of the Ocean and Autism

Since we had a great deal of interest in the last story about Clay Marzo, the surfer with Asperger's syndrome, thought you'd enjoy a piece from USA Today.

Clay Marzo rides the big waves off Maui like no other surfer, carving turns like a skateboarder on a liquid vert ramp or a snowboarder in a moving turquoise halfpipe.
Marzo glides through the barrel, a transparent tube of water, and dips his mop of golden hair into the wave's cascading wall, then shakes hundreds of shiny droplets into the air in the film Just Add Water. His barks of joy can be heard through the roar.
Marzo, 20, may be the world's most creative surfer. He also has Asperger's Syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism.

Surfing Helping Youngsters on the Spectrum

As the number of children with autism mushrooms, so too does the list of therapies for reaching the baffling world in which they live. From horseback riding to hyperbaric chambers, the methods are as diverse as the symptoms of autism itself.
But here's a therapy that surprises even the parents of autistic kids: surfing.
"When he caught his first wave, you should have seen him," said Robyn Serafine of Deerfield Beach, whose autistic 11-year-old son, Charlie Reilly, has limited verbal skills. "He was squealing and laughing — it was pure enjoyment. You could hear him 150 yards away."
Charlie first participated in a "Surfers for Autism" event last year in South Florida, where the nonprofit began in late 2007. On Saturday, surf instructors are bringing the action to Cocoa Beach for the first time. Already, 100 kids with autism have been signed up by their families.

The Rising Star in Pro Surfing Has Asperger's Syndrome

In the latest issue of Outside Magazine, Jonah Lehrer profile Clay Marzo, a rising star on the pro surfing circuit. In December 2007, Clay was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. What's so intriguing about Clay's story is that his Asperger's isn't a hindrance or handicap. Instead, it's a crucial part of his success, allowing Clay to focus, for hours at a time, on nothing but the physics of waves and the mechanics of surfing:

Clay Marzo doesn’t love surfing. Love is a complicated thing – sometimes, people fall out of love – but there is nothing complicated about Clay’s relationship to the ocean. For Clay, surfing is an elemental need, a form of sustenance, a way of being that he couldn’t be without. He just turned 20, but he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t obsessed with barrels, shortboards or the daily swell report.

Surfers Helping Children with Autism

Clair Arnold, 10, rode the long, slow wave into Tourmaline Beach and waved to family and friends cheering on the sand. She had stood up; she may appear on TV news; and she had spent the whole day boogie boarding with her sister. Clair had had a good day. Clair was one of around 50 children with autism who spent a recent afternoon surfing at Tourmaline Surf Park as part of the annual Surfers Healing event.