Like many parents of autistic children, I have spent many dollars and much time helping my son find an activity that meshes with his unique personality. I’ve tried basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. When I saw that he was not embracing traditional sports I tried to involve him in my trade, software development. I attempted teaching him how to program a computer, develop algorithms, and how to fly a drone. We had some success with flying drones. However, the programming and algorithm development did not capture his interest. When he turned 10 years old, I thought I would take him to a local go-kart track, in Stockton CA, to see his response. He showed some interest but struggled with the noise from the go-karts. I’ve always wanted a go-kart since I was a child so I bought one hoping it would encourage him to participate. He stayed away from my go-kart for two years because of the loud noise. One day out of the blue, things changed. He started sitting in the go-kart and acting like he was driving it. I bought him a go-kart simulator; he loved it! After working on the simulator for about 6 months I put him in a go-kart at the local track. His superpowers emerged. He showed very little fear of driving fast in the go-kart and displayed an incredible amount of spatial awareness. Since then, we regularly go to different go-kart tracks to allow him to cultivate his racing skills.
