California has 40 community-based ACEing Autism programs, but the locations at UC Irvine and UCLA are unique. Held on the campus tennis courts, both of these programs are registered community service clubs at the universities. As such, they have a board of directors, allowing for continuity of the club and an expansive leadership team.
ACEing Autism UC Irvine has been held since October 2024, and Program Director, Fiona Yao, has appointed many board members, including assistant directors, court leads, fundraising chairs, and social media managers.
“I just created positions for things I needed help with,” Yao said.
Yao said it is gratifying to watch the kids in her program improve, as she has been working with the same group throughout the past year. The kids have also formed special bonds with the volunteers at UC Irvine. Despite college students’ busy schedules, they consistently show up each week.
“It’s a really rewarding experience for everyone,” Yao said.
Partners Aria Movassaghi, 23, and Melina Ghodsi, 21, started the UCLA ACEing Autism location in May 2025 after both had spent time volunteering with the program. Their program has been running smoothly after a bumpy road to getting it designated as an official club.
“It took a couple months to get it off the ground, but we’re really excited to have a fully functioning program,” Ghodsi said.
Ghodsi, a psychology and disabilities studies student at UCLA, is researching how tennis can be used as an intervention for children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders for her capstone project. She said it has been amazing to see her research be “brought to life.”
Though their program is very fresh, Movassaghi and Ghodsi are looking forward to seeing it continue and expand, even as both plan to attend medical school in the future. Though they just have eight athletes now, they feel ready to broaden their reach in their next session.
“We can really open it up,” Movassaghi said. “We have six courts at the facility, so who knows what we could do there?”
ACEing Autism is an organization by young people, for young people, and college campuses are a perfect place to start a branch. With a strong cohort of student volunteers, the UC school ACEing Autism locations have a bright future ahead of them.
