Harris hates to run. And he doesn’t like sports – of any kind. When Harris was in second grade we pretty much gave up on pushing baseball, soccer, or tennis. Nobody was having any fun. It worried Kevin and me that Harris didn’t like to be outside, that he didn’t like to be active. We’re far from triathletes here at the Bailey house, but we do try to stay healthy. When told it’s “an outside day” Harris brings a book and reads through the kite flying or the frisbee throwing or the backyard whiffle ball games. We love that he’s a reader, but sometimes you’ve got to put the book down and move. Since I’m being honest here, I’ll tell you, we thought Harris was just plan lazy.
When Harris was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (in third grade), we needed to embrace and understand a whole gamut of symptoms, issues and actions. Harris wasn’t lazy. Harris isn’t lazy. Harris, like many folks on the Autism Spectrum, has Vestibular Complications. What’s that mean? It means he gets dizzy. He looses balance. In his own words: “Sometimes I don’t feel connected to the earth.”
Think about it. When you’re coming off a 2 week bender do you want someone insisting you go out and play catch? Yeah. Didn’t think so.
Harris will walk (and hike) and we figured the need to exercise Scout would give him a great opportunity to get outside. Little did we know we’d get a bit more. He’s hardly gazelle-like, but it made this mother smile.
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