My son stopped playing sports so much earlier...about six grade, maybe 7th. He would be a fire on the soccer field but once you took him out for a rest, he was done, finished. The down time caused his muscles to not respond...anymore. He did baseball, and he could not get out of the box quick enough. In fact, I will never forget sitting in the stands and hearing a mom say, "for Christs sake, can't you run." Well no, he could not. That was maybe third grade. I ran away, behind a tree to cry and my son saw me. After the game he told me, Mom why did you cry. I had fun. I don't want to play anymore but I had fun. Kids do so much better than us parents. And a kid with a great mind just blows the jerks off. Whether they be a kid or an adult. They are just so much better.

When I was a kid, I loved athletic or sporty activities, though, as a girl of the 50's, in a huge metropolis, we didn't do team sports (thank goodness). From the time I was a little girl, I knew there was something weird and different about the way my body worked - or didn't. I was forced to do all the activities in gym - it was the era of the President's Council on Fitness - one year, I even got a pin for trying so hard... but it was really tough on me. I was always in a state of terror and impending humiliation, even though I really enjoyed the activities. I was an avid dancer and roller skater and ice skater - but in my own way. I had excuses and reasons up the wazoo. Neighborhood games of tag and stickball and such were both exciting and terrifying, because those people all knew me, and I didn't want them to know my secret, because I had no way to explain it. It is such a relief that there is now a diagnosis, and the internet (!!), and the MDA and people who are no longer intimidated by physicians! And the likes of Mr. Rogers and others who helped today's parents to understand how important it is to let every child know it's OK just to be who they are! I would have given my eye teeth for that! Lois