Autism And Sports: Autistic Boy Shatters Stereotypes Through Taekwondo

Ethan Fineshriber, an 11-year-old boy from Sandy, Utah, has difficulties with communication and social interactions because of his autism. That all changed when his mother forced him out of the confines of his room and enrolled him in a sports class.

Mara Fineshriber said Ethan, who was diagnosed with autism at three years old, wasn't interested interacting with other kids and always stayed in his room alone building things. When he was seven, Ethan wasn't being invited to birthday parties and had no friends during recess, Today reported.

At first, Ethan detested his mother for making him go to a local American Taekwondo Association (ATA) martial arts school. The child, however, changed his tune when he found that he enjoys and excels in the sport.

Taekwondo Helped Ethan Get Out Of His Shell

Ethan's sport made him earn fans and friends both in school and in his taekwondo classes -- a fact that wasn't lost to Mara. She burst into tears of joy when Ethan asked her permission in fifth grade to spend time with a classmate's house after school.

Now entering seventh grade, Ethan is still making friends and fans thanks in part to his Instagram account, which showcases his taekwondo skills and tutorials and now has nearly 4,000 followers. Ethan excels at the Korean martial arts, which incorporates a lot of acrobatic kicks and includes various styles such as Hapkido, Tang Soo Do, Taekkyon, Kuk Sool Won, and taekwondo, About.com listed.

Ethan told Today that taekwondo made him "become more athletic," helped him "make friends," and "become more social." Because of his skill, other children in Ethan's class sought his help with certain techniques. Through that, Ethan found that he revels in teaching and helping his peers improve and decided to use that realization in a bigger platform -- Instagram.

After three years of training for 20 hours per week, Ethan became so good that he began competing nationally. He won first place at his first national tournament in March 2013 and bagged the highest prize at the ATA World Championship in Little Rock, Arkansas early this month.

Autism And The Benefits Of Sports And Physical Activity

Regular physical activities help children with autism stay fit and healthy and lower their aggressive and self-injurious actions. According to Autism Speaks, negative and self-stimulating behaviors commonly seen in autistic children (body rocking, object-tapping, light gazing, spinning, and head-nodding) can be prevented by exercise and encourage the autistic child's positive behaviors to grow.

Experts believe that repetitive actions like running and sports like swimming and in Ethan's case -- taekwondo -- distract autistic children from doing stereotypical behaviors.