A tennis and child lover, Sara Longo found her perfect passion when found ACEing Autism while looking how to stay connected to kids and tennis. “I was a Therapeutic Staff Support (TSS) while finishing college and I loved it!” the new mother explained. I helped kids at school, at home, even after school if needed…
This story has us all kinds of feelings. Meet Matt Miller and Juliana Simon from our Toledo, OH program, our first ACEing Autism couple! “We met through friends at Brown University and when she learned that I was the Program Director at the East Providence, RI program, she texted me to volunteer,” the 3rd year…
Meet Isabella Puglisi, a 16 year old volunteer from our Miami Gardens, FL program. With their upcoming session, Isabella now has a new title: Program Director. “I’ve been playing tennis for 6 years now and love doing service, so when I was told about this, I was all in,” the HS junior said. “I have…
Meet Tej Munaganuri, a participant from our Dallas, TX program. “Tej had never played tennis before starting ACEing Autism in 2017,” his father Ravi recalls. Five years later, “Tej just won gold in orange ball singles and unified doubles at the Special Olympics State Championship.” To understand the magnitude of this, let’s go back to…
We want to send giant congratulations to Danny DaGian, our Program Director in Austin, TX! The proud father of 3 received the Henry Cox Adaptive Tennis Award on July 9th, from USTA Texas, an achievement to honor all his contributions to adaptive tennis. “Because Anshu Sharma was willing to start a program in Houston, I…
Meet Jeremy Chung, a volunteer from our Washington, DC program, who was also recognized by the USTA Mid Atlantic section during Asian American Pacific Islander Month. “I’m a High School ambassador and promote the important aspect of tennis on social media,” the Chinese descendant explained. “I drive conversations online about how accessible it is for…
Meet Vincent Pattalap, a 7 year old athlete from our McKinney, TX program. Vincent first participated in the Fall 2021 and is now a regular. “We found a sport to do as a family with my husband and my sister,” his mother Tanita, shared. “We just have to go and practice with him in between…
Meet Sophie Moore, Assistant Program Director at the Dallas, TX program, who is starting her Master’s in Speech Language Pathology at the University of Alabama. “What makes me come back every time is the Impact it has on the players,” Sophie, who is also a roving umpire shared. “Sports can have such a big impact…
Meet Tammy Simone and Katie Orlando, our Program Directors from Akron, OH. Tammy, the mother of a child on the spectrum (Stephen, 21 years old), heard about ACEing Autism from a friend “so I talked to Katie who was a member of my club about starting a program,” Tammy remembered. As Tammy and Katie grew…
Meet Molly McGregor, an 11 year old social butterfly who just started with ACEing Autism Northville this Spring. “She needs to get her energy out,” her mother Jennifer McGregor laughed when asked about her reasons for signing up. “She is really social and has done a lot of sports like adaptive soccer, special needs gymnastics…
