Autistic boy blocked from cross country final despite qualifying

A 10-year-old boy with autism* has been blocked from competing at the NSW primary school cross championships even though he qualified for it.

7News reported Charlie Cox made it to the North Coast Cross Country Championships and qualified for the state finals as a special needs* athlete.

But because Australian Athletics doesn’t have a classification* for athletes with autism, Charlie was told he wouldn’t be able to compete.

“We were very disappointed that Charlie was excluded,” Charlie’s father Owen told 7News.

Tennis Australia and Swimming Australia both have classifications for athletes with formally diagnosed autism. Despite autism being included in other sporting codes, it has not been added to the Australian Athletics framework.

7News and news.com.au reported the following statement was sent to the family by the NSW Department of Education:

“The inclusion of an autism category for the sports of athletics and cross country are not feasible* in the Representative School Sport Pathway* as there are no nationally recognised benchmarks* to support fair and consistent result calculation.

“Other states and territories that have made local provisions* for participation do so outside the formal School Sport Australia pathway and there is no fair or consistent result calculation, nor is there a pathway to the next level of representation.

“Your concern is acknowledged and please be reassured that the NSW Department of Education remains committed to advocating for broader inclusion* through national sporting bodies such as Athletics Australia.”

The news comes after a Year 9 student with dwarfism* was told last year he couldn’t compete because of a rule from World Para Athletics that’s recently been adopted by School Sport Australia.

Hugo, a Year 9 student from Sydney’s Northern Beaches was told he couldn’t compete at national trials.

Hugo has genetic disorder achondroplasia* – the most common form of short-limbed dwarfism, but that hasn’t stopped him running.

“I like the feeling of adrenaline*. Halfway through the run, I get a feeling that I can’t stop, otherwise I’ll be so disappointed in myself, and I just like that feeling of running and it just makes me happy,” Hugo told 7NEWS.

Hugo has competed at state level for years, but he can no longer compete in any long-distance events because of a new rule adopted by School Sports Australia.

“It’s really sad, I see the joy that Hugo gets when he’s competing … there’s not that many opportunities for kids with disabilities to have success and it’s really sad to see that as a mother ripped away from him and without any reasons,” Hugo’s mum Alicia said.

“I just don’t understand why, it doesn’t harm anyone else. It doesn’t affect anyone; he has individual medical clearance to do it and it’s just really hard to understand.”

The new rule, enforced by Athletics Australia, is based on medical advice relating to short-statured people running long distances.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• autism: (Autism Spectrum Disorder) a neuro-developmental condition where the brain processes things differently. Autistic people may have challenges with communicating, understanding how others feel and coping with new or uncertain situations. They may also find things like brights lights and loud noises upsetting
• classification: the different types of athletes who can compete
• special needs: kids who require assistance because of a disability or because of emotional, medical or development challenges
• feasible: possible to do easily
• Representative School Sport Pathway: a program that enables school kids to compete in different sports, giving them a pathway to progress to a professional career over time
• benchmarks: standards or rankings to compare with
• local provisions: allowed participation without having the formal School Sport Pathway
• broader inclusion: more people with different types of disabilities being included
• dwarfism: being of usually short stature or small size because of a genetic condition
• achondroplasia: the most common form of dwarfism, where the legs and arms are short but the torso is usually a regular length
• adrenaline: a hormone that is released when you are stressed or excited that makes your heart pump faster and gives you a boost of energy

EXTRA READING
Aspect opens 10th autism school
Motorsport speeds up inclusion
Lego Titanic docks in top museum

QUICK QUIZ
1. Which level of competition was Charlie not allowed to compete in?
2. What type of disability does he have?
3. Which two sporting codes have classifications that allow for people with autism to compete?
4. What does Hugo like about running?
5. Which condition does Hugo have?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Athlete discrimination
Discrimination is defined as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.”

Do you think these rulings against autistic and short-statured people not being allowed to race in Athletics Australia school events is discrimination?

Outline your reasons for and against the case for discrimination in these cases.

FOR

AGAINST

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
What should Athletics Australia and School Sport state organisations do to rectify this unfortunate situation for Charlie?

How or where could he still compete against like athletes?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Summarise the article
A summary can be a really good way to grab the main idea plus some key points in the article as a highlight. Think of the summary like a little advertisement or extract you could use to encourage people to read the article in detail. You want to give them an overview of the article that includes the main idea (being able to tell the audience what the article is about in one sentence), plus a few of the key points of the information.

Remember to re-read your summary to check that it is clear, concise and makes sense to the audience who haven’t read the article yet. You need to make language choices that allow you to explain the information in only a few sentences.