Bowling Together
We went bowling at Lucky Strike in Philadelphia this afternoon with our friend Hal. Charlie’s gone bowling twice before, and both times with those “bumpers” on the lanes, but not today. Jim stood behind him and helped Charlie put his fingers into the three holes and send away the ball, which promptly rolled into the gutter.
0. 0. 0. Flashed Charlie’s score.
Charlie, who had sat up straight in the backseat looking out the window all the way down on the drive to Philadelphia and who was excited to see Hal, kept at it, with Jim standing behind and beside him and directing a lot of energy into guiding Charlie to pull his arm back and forward and send the ball down the shiny wood. (It also helped that there were couches to sit on and French fries to munch; Charlie made himself quite at home.) Charlie stood with Jim as the bright pink ball rolled and score! 2 pins went down. And then 3, and 5, and 1, and there were no more 0’s after Charlie’s name.
I, on the other hand, ended up bowling 0-0-0-0-10-0-0-0-0-0: Charlie beat me by 25 points and Jim and Hal were waaaaaayyyy ahead. Maybe I’m a bit hopeless (and I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing, as I was mostly watching Charlie), but Charlie was as patient as ever and kept at it; so often for him, that persistence is half the game.
Consider the story of 19-year-old Brian Hennefer, a 5-foot-10-inch substitute shooting guard for the Cherry Hill High School East basketball in New Jersey. He has Down Syndrome and is possibly the only boy with Down’s to play on a varsity high school basketball team. Today’s New York Times tells more:
“Someone asked him what his handicap was,” his father [Bob Hennefer] said. “He said: ‘What do you think? I have Down Syndrome.’ He’s funny too.”
Cherry Hill East’s principal, John O’Breza, said, “Every kid on the team, and it seems every kid in the school, feels that they have grown because they have seen what Brad can do.”
Mrs. Hennefer said Brad is often stubborn and is not really receptive to change in his daily routine. He does as well as he can in school, but math is difficult and often frustrating. He has a girlfriend he met five years ago through a Down Syndrome group and, like a typical teenager, wants to spend as much time with her and his other friends as possible.
He is muscular from working out five days a week in the school weight room and has a hip, floppy-at-the-top, shaved-around-the-edges haircut. Like many with Down Syndrome, he speaks haltingly. But he tries hard to be articulate.
“I want to go to college, but first I want to be with my teammates and Coach [John] Valore and have a great season,” he said after the Lenape game.
The week before, Brad had made his second 3-pointer of the season, near the end of a 75-38 loss to one of the state’s top teams, St. Patrick’s of Elizabeth — a feat that had made him quite proud.
“Not many players get to score against St. Patrick’s,” he said.
Playing with the rest of the team and having a great season and a great time—that’s pretty much what I hope Charlie might get out of the athletic (Special Olympics basketball) and other activities he has been trying. It’s not been easy for Charlie with the basketball—-he is still learning the skills and then there’s the added, and highly baffling component, of how to play with a bunch of other players, with a team—-and often it feels like the scorecard just keeps reading 0. 0. 0. And then Charlie bowls and down the pins go.
I’d better start practicing myself to catch up.
Tags: asd, asperger, autism, basketball, bowling, Parenting, pdd-nos, philadelphia, special olympics, SportsRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Friendship, New Jersey, Sports
9 opinions for Bowling Together
Marla
Feb 24, 2008 at 9:48 am
Bowling is a great idea! I am so glad Charlie was able to bowl without the bumpers. I bet that made him feel really good. We have been wanting to try bowling too but have yet to do it. You inspired me to get to it!
Niksmom
Feb 24, 2008 at 10:11 am
Yes, it sure sound like you need to get busy to keep up with Charlie; he keeps keeping on and making his way through life. It’s beautiful to read about; probably not as beautiful as it is to experience, though. :-)
Club 166
Feb 24, 2008 at 7:40 pm
The first time we went bowling (while Buddy Boy was in pre-school and had been invited to a bowling birthday party) it was a disaster.
The noise got to him quickly, and we had to make a hasty exit.
Over the last couple of years the summer camp for autistic kids that he goes to has had field trips to bowling alleys. Buddy Boy now loves going, though he still isn’t all that good. But hey, we have fun! For a time, he was Googling “free bowling balls” trying to score himself one, and he was trying to convince my sister, the chemist, to make him one.
Joe
Kristina Chew, PhD
Feb 24, 2008 at 9:40 pm
We’re thinking of a bowling birthday party for Charlie. Bet Buddy Boy is better than me……..
Eleanor
Feb 25, 2008 at 5:03 pm
My son had his 7th birthday party at a bowling alley, and it was great. (I’ve got to brag a bit here…he got a score of 139 last week! He’s in a league and bowls at least once a week with his dad, too. He’s much better at bowling than I am, that is for sure.) For kids without too many sound-related sensory issues, bowling seems like a great sport.
Jen
Feb 26, 2008 at 12:41 am
He’s definitely better than me already. I think my all time high score in bowling is about 27.
I’m also wondering how close you are to me. Based on where you were, and some of the other posts, I know you can’t be really far. Anyway, I wonder this because there is bowling for special needs kids starting around here in a few weeks. I’ll send the location by email.
Regan
Mar 22, 2008 at 12:42 am
Kristina,
I gotta tell you that THIS POST got us over to the bowling alley tonight.
It started out a little rough for all of us and it was dicey whether bowling was going to be Eleanor’s cup of tea, but after 2 games she was getting the hang of it to the point of rushing someone else’s turn and getting a spare…if we weren’t all starving we might have done another game.
Eleanor and big sis tied, I broke 100 (which made my day) and the big guy creamed us all at 179.
Way fun. Thanks!
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 22, 2008 at 1:16 am
We have to get there ourselves—-hope to this weekend, and or maybe next to scout out things for a bowling party! Not sure I can get anywhere near 100…..
More than looking forward to trying again after reading about your afternoon!
Regan
Mar 27, 2008 at 3:53 am
I thought that if we got into this more that I needed some tips on how to teach the skills well.
Fortunately the Special Olympics has put together this really cool guide to teaching bowling to those with special needs. I already see a few things that we could think about doing to make it easier to learn…
http://tinyurl.com/2s7jdq
Again, Kristina, thanks!
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