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Image by fashionsphinx.com<\/strong><\/p>\n It turns out it was an event organized by Surfer’s Healing<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>, and\u00a0<\/span><\/span>this is what they do :<\/p>\n We take kids with autism surfing.<\/strong>\u00a0We paddle out together on tandem boards to catch the waves that come our way. That’s what we do; that’s what we love.<\/em><\/p>\n On the surface, our contribution seems simple: each year, our volunteer-staffed camps give over 4,500 children with autism and their families a fun, engaging day at the beach.<\/em><\/p>\n But go deeper, and you’ll see that a quiet revolution is taking place. Through the simple act of riding waves together, we’re defying the status quo.<\/em><\/p>\n When we help kids get up on a board, we’re challenging preconceived notions of capability. When we encourage participants to dive in, we’re empowering them to engage with the world. And when we ride the waves together, we’re affirming that every person is a gift.<\/em><\/p>\n Many children with autism struggle with sensory overload; in other words, simple sensations can overwhelm them. The weightlessness and rhythms of the ocean offer a therapeutic experience, a respite from the constant assault on their senses.<\/em><\/p>\n Surfers Healing is the original surf camp for children with autism, and we’ve been serving the community since 1996.\u00a0Yet what we offer isn’t a ‘cure’, or even ‘traditional’ therapy. It’s a completely different sensation and environment for our participants. We give individuals a chance to encounter the waves, to challenge themselves, to try something new. And since 1 in every 68 US children has an ASD (CDC report, March 2014), our work is more vital than ever.<\/em><\/p>\n Our biggest challenge? Getting kids to\u00a0come out\u00a0of the water! Once they ride with us, they don’t want to stop.<\/em><\/p>\n Attending our camps positively impacts children with autism; the experience helps instill confidence and calm. Yet over the years we’ve seen that Surfers Healing also has a profound impact on parents. Autism parents are always hearing about what their children\u00a0cannot\u00a0do. But at a Surfers Healing camp, it’s all about what their kids\u00a0can\u00a0do.<\/em><\/p>\n In the words of one volunteer, \u201cFor parents to see their kid up on a surfboard \u2026 sometimes, it’s nothing less than a miracle.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cThe group of volunteers will be lead by Terry \u201cTubesteak\u201d Tracy, one of the original Malibu \u2018pit\u2019 crew during the Golden Years of the 1950s. In the \u201950s, Tubesteak lived in a shack on the beach at Malibu for two summers, and was one of a group of surfers that included the pioneers of the California surfer lifestyle.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cKemp Aaberg, Miki Dora, Tom Morey and how about Johnny Fain, Dewey Weber, The Windbag, and Lance Carson,\u201d Tubesteak said. In the 1959 movie Gidget, the Great Kahoona, acted by Cliff Robertson, was based partly on Tubesteak\u2019s life. Tubesteak has spent a lot of time staring out to sea, and understands these special children maybe a little better than most. \u201cThe kids are remarkable,\u201d Tubesteak said. \u201cI\u2019ve been to several of these things, talked to parents, and several instructors. If I were very young like them I\u2019d be terrified to go in the ocean on a surfboard, even with an instructor. The moment the children get on the board it seems as if they entered another world. It appears the wind and the waves calm them, although instructors say the kids remain the same, and they seem to enjoy the environment. It\u2019s incredible. These scrawny children have no fear of the ocean. It doesn\u2019t hurt things that instructors are super athletes and maybe the kids know they\u2019re in good hands. Some of the children are as young as four years old. When you attend a Surfer\u2019s Healing camp, you know something special is happening.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Surfers share some of these traits, specifically the single-minded, obsessive pursuit of waves, so it\u2019s only natural that a group of surfers should take a group of autistic kids out to sea on surfboards and push them into waves.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Karen Gallagher is a surf instructor on the North Shore of Oahu who volunteered for a Surfer\u2019s Healing in Hawaii. \u201cI helped out the Paskowitz family at Haleiwa Ali\u2019i Park, and it was awesome,\u201d Gallagher said. Someone should make a photo documentary of the kids\u2019 faces before and after they surf; the transformation is incredible. But then again, so it is with folks like us, too!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Tubesteak estimates there will be as many as 150 kids at First Point, \u201cso the more helping hands, the better.\u201d Tubesteak will be aided and abetted by fellow Malibu Golden Years veteran Kemp Aaberg, who was one of the original style phenomenons of the \u201950s. Surf instructors from the Paskowitz Surf Camp will be there to make sure the kids ride waves safely. Josh Tracy is Tubesteak\u2019s 22-year-old grandson and will be one of the volunteers. \u201cI enjoy taking the kids out in the water,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing the calming effect it has on them. It\u2019s rewarding to see the kids and their families so proud and excited. It\u2019s a great experience for everyone.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n So get off your lazy asses and catch the next Surfer’s Healing surf camp. Dates are on their website. Contribute, volunteer or simply take your kids and go to watch. It is a life changing experience.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nImages above by fashionsphinx.com<\/strong><\/h4>\n
A Powerful Experience: \u00a0<\/em><\/h4>\n
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\nAnd from Surfer’s Mag<\/a><\/strong><\/span> , a great article here:
\nAutism has been defined by the World Health Organization and the American Psychological Association as a developmental disability resulting from a disorder of the human central nervous system. Some of the symptoms of autism include staring into open areas, odd movement patterns, and slow language skills. \u201cMore accurately,\u201d said Nick Tarlov, MD, a surfer and second year resident in Neurology at USC Medical Center, \u201cthe child tends not to make eye contact with other people and does not perform social behaviors that other children learn, such as playing with other children. Mother\u2019s notice that their baby does not have a \u2018social smile\u2019 \u2013 the way babies will smile at their mother and giggle. Slow language skills, odd movement patterns and obsessive compulsive behaviors such as banging one\u2019s head into a wall, inability to follow directions, occasional violent tantrums, spinning around in circles, poor eye contact and an unusual self-absorption bordering on selfishness are also symptoms. Autistic children seem to exist in a world of their own.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n