Hoop Hero
2/23/2006 6:00 PM
(Dave Yates, WROC-TV)
Last night, we showed the amazing video of an autistic kid who did the unthinkable at a recent Greece Athena basketball game. He scored 20 points in the last four minutes. Dave Yates sat down with this young star about what seems like a fairy tale dream.
It really doesn't get much better than this, a true example of how sports can create a positive experience. It was the type of story a Hollywood studio would dream up. The team manager comes off the bench and scores in his final home game. But Greece Athena senior Jason McElwain made this dream a reality and then some, scoring 20 points
"My first shot was an airball, by a lot. Then I missed a layup and then as soon as the first shot went in and then the second shot, as soon as that went in I just started to catch fire," says Jason.
Like any good Hollywood story, this one has a twist. Not only had Jason never played in varsity game before, he's also autistic.
"This is the first moment Jason has ever succeeded and proud of himself. I look at autism as the Berlin Wall, he cracked it," says Jason's mom, Debbie McElwain.
"I've had a lot of thrills in coaching and I've coached alot of wonderful kids, but I've never experienced something like this ever in my life, you know other than my own personal family things. My emotions, I couldn't stop crying," says Athena head coach Jim Johnson.
Getting to this point hasn't been easy for Jason. His autism is a condition that has made some people uncomfortable to be around him. Obviously the kids at Athena don't feel that way
"He's a cool kid, you just get to know him. You get used to being around him. A couple weeks ago he missed practice because he was sick and you feel differently when he's not around because he brings humor and life to the team," says Athena basketball player Levar Goff.
Jason's accomplishment on the court was nice, but he's not done yet.
"If Jason gets a high school diploma, that will be my biggest success."
Jason said that when they lifted him up on their shoulders after the game he felt great...kinda like the way he made everyone around him feel. He wants to dedicate that game to all the graduating seniors at Athena.
we need more stories like this in the media. it's refreshing to know that we are protrayed by some in a good light, as people to brigthen up life, i get simular comments by my classmates at school alot.
Jason is a kind and thoughtful boy as well as a basketball star.
Well done!
Any great sporting moments of our own you would like to share? In my own life, I was serving in volleyball and I got us several goals. My motor skills preclude my scoring the normal way, so I have to throw the ball up. My housemates were cheering me on. Which is good because in games involving a ball and a net, I tend to be so dreamy or so off base. :?
I like the sentiment of brightening up life.
I used to play a lot basketball when I was younger. I and everyone else noticed that I'm a really inconsistent player. Sometimes my playing was awful. At other times, for some reason I seemed to be on fire and not missed a shot. I wonder if this is common among aspies.
ironcally, being a big sports fan, i didn't get a chance to play too much (exucison from play, bullies, the whole bit), but when i pitched a few times in pick up games, i tend to babble the batters. wasn't good enough for a school team though, and besides, they were going to take all my free time away, so i decilined. becuase i'm tall (5'10") and can palm a basketball, everyone expected me to be a big basketball star by now. but my shooting tended to be awful...but that might have changed...i tended to have hot and cold streaks very sportaiclly, and my corridnation was never really that good, so my play in many sports suffered, kinda like the kid's first shot. when i went snowboarding on a weekend trip a few years back, cordination was also an issue. it took me a whole three days to get my corrdination down to where i was snowboarding square mountians. if i had better corridnation, i probaly would have been on a varsity team
i think also some college is going to give this kid a scolarship becuase of this, and then become upset when he doesn't do as well as he saw in the one story.
also, on the kids, i wanted to bring up an angle to that story, they probaly cheered for him becuase he was a bright spot in their life, an unique, one of a kind indivual that without him, things would be boring. i know i have that feeling among my friends becuase of my personailty. i suspect his way with friends is very simular, just friendly with everyone. i hope he isn't bullied like i was...
What a great story! That was the headline on AOL when I signed on. Probably one of my most unforgettable moments was winning a particular shoot at this archery tournament. It was down to just me and one other person, and on my 3rd arrow, I popped that person's balloon.
Once in elementary school, the class was playing softball and I hit a home run without realizing it, the kids told me to keep on running, and it was the first home run I'd ever hit. For the rest of that one day, I wasn't bullied as much. The next day, however, the bullying resumed.
It's a shame that it takes the kid throwing a ball accurately for others to recognize that he's someone worth knowing. His other good qualities are ignored apparently.
Alison (not that I want to be a downer about it...)
Well, at least his teammates are saying that he's a cool person to know, it just takes time to get to know him, for reasons other than the fact he's good at basketball.
...How uncommon is one person scoring 20 points in four minutes in basketball, anyway?
...How uncommon is one person scoring 20 points in four minutes in basketball, anyway?
Twenty points is a lot for one person to score in an entire game. To score that many in four minutes is very rare. When I used to play basketball in high school, I was delighted if I could score 6 or 8 points in the whole game.
The nicest thing about this is that it will help people to learn that persons on the autism spectrum can accomplish great things, given the right environment.
It's a shame that it takes the kid throwing a ball accurately for others to recognize that he's someone worth knowing. His other good qualities are ignored apparently.
Alison (not that I want to be a downer about it...)
I thought the story was a downer too... especially the quote from the mother, where she said it was the first time he had ever succeeded and felt proud of himself. (And don't even get me started on the Berlin Wall comparison.) It's obvious that the mother has been ignoring his good qualities if she believes that nothing he did before was a success.
My son can't throw a ball accurately, but he has had plenty of successes throughout his childhood (in school and elsewhere) and plenty of reasons to feel proud of himself. If a kid is in an environment where he can never succeed or feel proud, something is hugely wrong!
It's a shame that it takes the kid throwing a ball accurately for others to recognize that he's someone worth knowing. His other good qualities are ignored apparently.
Alison (not that I want to be a downer about it...)
I thought the story was a downer too... especially the quote from the mother, where she said it was the first time he had ever succeeded and felt proud of himself. (And don't even get me started on the Berlin Wall comparison.) It's obvious that the mother has been ignoring his good qualities if she believes that nothing he did before was a success.
My son can't throw a ball accurately, but he has had plenty of successes throughout his childhood (in school and elsewhere) and plenty of reasons to feel proud of himself. If a kid is in an environment where he can never succeed or feel proud, something is hugely wrong!
Mmm, the mother's attitude is concerning. However, if you look at it from the other kids' statements rather than from the mother's, it's a very positive story.
""He's a cool kid, you just get to know him. You get used to being around him. A couple weeks ago he missed practice because he was sick and you feel differently when he's not around because he brings humor and life to the team," says Athena basketball player Levar Goff."
All of which strike me as being far more important than the fact that he seems to be a basketball prodige.
...As I already stated. apparantly.
I really do wonder what the kids at this school thought about this boy Jason. I noticed that there were lots of spectators waving about identical cut-out photos of this boy Jason, like he was some kind of pop-star or local celebrity. It struck me as all very strange. Obviously this kid is being treated like someone very special, very different, which isn't really what most of us would want for our own kids. I would like to see the day when we can all be open about being on the spectrum, without having to fear that people will be prejudiced against us because of it, but I wouldn't want my kid or any kid to be made to feel too "special" or like a freak. I hate to say it, but the phrase that came to mind when I watched this news story was "team mascot". Team mascots are usually pet animals.
Anyway, I thought Jason is a cool kid. His voice and appearance reminded me so much of some people in our family. I hope he can look forward to a life with many opportunities and much happiness.
Yes, but do bear in mind that that might be more to do with the 'twenty points in four minutes' thing than a 'autistic kid is good at something' thing. I mean, look at how sports fans generally treat people who are exceptional and who play for their team...
I mean, look at how sports fans generally treat people who are exceptional and who play for their team...
Yeah, *why* is that? Such fanatical support for something that, when it comes down to it, is just hand-eye-foot coordination, maybe with a ball added. I've never understood the NT adulation for sports. What a pity we can't channel that enthusiasm into something more useful and long-lasting - like ridding the world of malaria or hunger in the Third World, for instance.
Alison
I mean, look at how sports fans generally treat people who are exceptional and who play for their team...
Yeah, *why* is that? Such fanatical support for something that, when it comes down to it, is just hand-eye-foot coordination, maybe with a ball added. I've never understood the NT adulation for sports. What a pity we can't channel that enthusiasm into something more useful and long-lasting - like ridding the world of malaria or hunger in the Third World, for instance.
Alison
Just in the third world? Think bigger - we have enough food to feed every man, woman and child on the planet, afterall 
And NTs do sometimes channel that enthusiasm into something more important than sports. Charity drives (given a big enough telethon or disaster), profit at the expense of all else, gaining power and dominance, supressing the freedoms of others... I mean, I'm sure there are other good ones other than the charity drives (well, usually good, anyway), I just can't think of them.