Autism and Baseball
Being autistic means that a lot of things that most people take for granted are difficult for me. If it’s having a conversation, looking someone in the eyes, or trying to feel included in group activities, it’s always a difficult task to do. Yet, in terms of trying to find things to talk about with people, there’s one topic that people always enjoy talking about with me: baseball. The thrill of the crowd, the smells, all of it is something that brings a tear to my eye and makes me feel welcome. To date, I’ve only been to six ballparks but I’ve been able to “meet up” with so many people over this love of baseball. Whether that is the lovely people of Top Fan Rivalry to the amazing group that is the Phandemic Krew, I have been blessed to meet great people and understand their love of baseball and how it impacts their lives. It feels like it’s a blessing to go out and enjoy baseball as a whole and enjoy the little things of the ballpark and how it makes us all unique.
This love of mine started at a young age: I would often go to Phillies games as part of summer camp trips, and the game was always the last big one we would do. I had so much fun watching players like Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Cole Hamels hit the ball and pitch wonderful gems. As the years went by, I grew out of camp, but still enjoyed going to games and watching the good and the bad (sometimes very bad) teams go have fun. Being autistic in a ballgame is a challenge. Not only are there so many loud sounds going through the entire stadium, you also had about 30-40,000 people walking and talking and yelling at their highest volume. I went to a baseball game once where it was so loud and rambunctious, I had to wear earplugs and numerous times had to walk to get my bearings since I was so overwhelmed. There are so many sensory options to get overwhelmed and you don’t even have a chance to cool off or calm down because of how action packed and hot you get at the game. One thing I wish the Phillies were able to do is have an area for autistic individuals to calm down and get re-regulated. That way, you can take autistic individuals and have an opportunity to regulate and have a chance for families to not be ashamed to take their kids for an amazing ballpark experience.
Being autistic as well is a unique opportunity to learn about baseball itself. I play APBA, a tabletop baseball game that can combine different eras of baseball history to make a great team. I have been playing APBA for almost 14 years (just about half my life), and it is so much fun to play people in the game and see fun tournaments and games be played out. I learned so much about baseball by playing that game and going to actual baseball games, of course.
While sometimes it feels like having autism is a curse, it can also be an opportunity for people to recognize the importance of learning about differences and learn how to accommodate those around us. When you can learn about autism and apply it to your life, you really have an opportunity to just be yourself and sometimes learn about what it means to struggle with managing your senses.
The truth of having autism is like being able to go to any place and not taking in the roses. While you’re taking the roses in, you have dogs barking, an airplane or helicopter flying overhead, or a car backfires, all at once and it’s amplified. It can get overwhelming and you really have no place to go to try and understand what is going on. When you are able to express yourself with your own words and fathom what’s happening, it’s the best gift you can possibly have. For me, while it’s hard to express my feelings, I am able to talk about my experiences and really understand what it means to be me. I worked at an autism center and work with autistic individuals to this day. I enjoy this and it is a passion of mine that I love talking about to others. I hope someday we as a people can accept those for being different, both physically and mentally.
By Dave Hummel