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 sessions, so he doesn’t lose what he’s learned,” she continued amused.
Vincent was diagnosed with autism at the age of three through his school and his main challenge is communication but between special education and ACEing Autism, his parents have seen improvements. “He can copy long sentences or answer simple questions now,” Tanita explained. “At the end of the ACEing Autism Fall season, he started interacting with other children when he wasn’t at the beginning.”
Tennis is the first sport that Vincent, who loves to do puzzles – he can do 300-500 pieces puzzles — has ever tried. Even though the beginning was a little rocky with some tears, “the second time he was fine and enjoyed it,” the mom told us. “He liked it but he does need to eat before otherwise he gets angry,” she laughed.
She was excited to see improvements throughout the session in his socialization and tennis skills. “He can now hit the ball with the racquet and he wants to practice,” the proud mom said. “But we do need to practice in between otherwise he forgets what he’s learned so we’re going to get him a racquet.”
They have found ACEing Autism to be a great way to work on his interaction with others and hope to continue to see improvements. “It’s great that he gets to interact with someone, and he can focus a little bit better too,” she ended the conversation.
We’re so proud of Vincent’s efforts and improvements and can’t wait to see him back on court in the Fall.
