Meet Parshva Gandhi, 6 year old tennis player from our ACEing Autism Lexington program, who was diagnosed with autism around 2 years old.

“𝙉𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚, 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙,” his mother Nupur explained. “You look for things, I went to India to get a 2nd opinion,” she revealed. Nupur admits that it took some time to let it sink in and accept the diagnosis but she now pokes fun at some of her behaviors.

“We enrolled him at the ABA center and he is able to say sentences now. He can say what he wants which brings his frustration down,” the mom beamed with joy. On top of his ABA and speech therapy, Nupur credits @aceingautism for on and off the court improvements.

“Getting my son to do something is a big task and Kian (his volunteer buddy) does it,” she said laughing. “He learned counting through tennis, his speech, and attention span have improved dramatically.”
But most importantly, “𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜.”

He is also now aware of safety and danger, making his parents feel a lot better. “We also don’t need to prompt everything like we used to,” she remembered joyous.

Nupur appreciates feeling like part of a community and not alone (through ACEing Autism). “This is our journey and I see mothers who can relate to my struggles. Sometimes when I’m not engaging him I feel guilty but I know that during this hour, he is learning something new. I have a new set of friends and so does my son.” she said with a smile going ear to ear.

For the past few years, Parshva has overcome a lot of obstacles. Join me in congratulating this incredible family for their perseverance and love through all of it.