Another Perfect Day

This is our fourth summer surfing with Surfers Healing (surf therapy for autistic children). This time was extra special because we were all there together, all three of my autistic kids and my husband. Previous years Lane, my husband, couldn’t make it because he was working.. and my oldest aspie was at scout camp.

It was also extra special because we’ve developed a friendship with founders Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz, and many of the regular volunteers and greet us with hugs. This is truly an autism ohana.

Maui was first, happy to put on a dry wet suit😋. He went out with Izzy and they paddled way way out and caught some great waves. Maui told me later this helped him get over his fear of being on the open ocean. Izzy jumped off at the end, allowing Maui to surf on his own. He stood up and surfed by himself! Lane and I were so excited for him!

Maui surfing with Izzy

Catching a wave on his own!

Thor surfed with Izzy too! When Izzy asked how many waves he wanted to catch, Thor said, “All of them!”

Thor and Izzy

The man with the biggest heart!

Mosiah surfed a bit later with Ben, he had so much joy on his face!

Mosiah looking like pro!

Finally Liam decided to surf. Liam is our ocean boy. The child born in the water, and our lowest functioning on the spectrum. Unfortunately, he’s also ultra picky and super skinny, so he has no insulation. He never lasts long in the ocean before he’s too cold. But he loves to surf, “small waves” he says. Izzy took him out, far far out. They waited for the perfect wave. Liam was quiet, just being in the moment. And then it came, “out of nowhere”, Izzy said. The perfect wave. Liam flew back to the shore with Izzy. Liam was done with one wave, but it was enough. It was another moment to add to his memories on the ocean, on the waves.

I love that Lane captured this moment between Liam and Jennifer, a volunteer, who has been with us since we started surfing. They are wonderful humans who love our kids. It’s a very cool thing.

Another perfect day has come and gone. Friendships, family, our wonderful autism ohana.

One Perfect Day with Surfer’s Healing

For two summers now my three spectrum boys have been blessed to get into Surfer’s Healing Camp in Malibu, California. I first read something about Surfer’s Healing years ago on an autism resource site. The organization was created by Izzy and Danielle Paskowitz. Izzy grew up in a surfing family. In fact there is a movie about his unique upbringing called Surfwise. Izzy and Danielle have three children, one of them is autistic. Surfing was a way to connect with their son, and that’s how idea for Surfer’s Healing began. They have professional surfers come and surf with the kids for one perfect day. The first summer was June 2015. We signed up and anxiously waited and waited to see if we got it. When the email came I felt like I’d won a million dollars, I was so excited! I think more than my sons and my husband.

We were slotted to surf in one of the last groups, so we arrived around noon. We set up our little umbrella and signed in with the wonderful volunteers. They gave each boy a bag of freebies and a ticket for lunch. We played and waited and watched the other autism families around us. A unique experience to be surrounded by people who ‘understand’.

When it was finally our turn, we went up to the tents and the boys were put in wet suits and life vests and a sweet volunteer matched each with a surfer. The surfers were kind and gentle with them we watched as they took them far out on the ocean until they was barely a way to distinguish who was who. I don’t think very many other parents there had the same problem we had, trying to film and photograph three kids surfing at once. I also had a sleeping boy #6, my then three year old, on me as I tried to fiddle with my cell phone to take pics, running across the beach dodging families to get a perfect shot. After each boy surfed three or four times, they came back to shore where awesome volunteers cheered for them. Then we took pics with each surfer. It was a day. The kids surfed. On the ocean!

After our group surfed, it was time to close up shop and we played and watched as they slowly disappeared. Soon it was another beach. We played and loved the ocean until we all decided it was time to go. Boy #5 talked about surfing everyday. He drew pictures about surfing with Peter (Stinky Pete). It was truly One Perfect Day.