An update on World Autism Acceptance Week 2023.
World Autism Acceptance Week took place at the end of March and at British Taekwondo we spent the week fundraising, talking about and increasing the awareness of Autism within our sport.
During World Autism Acceptance Week we posted resources and links on our website which are available to view year round. Please feel free to download, share, print and use these resources at your clubs to continue your support of Autism and your autistic members. You can find links in the resources section at the bottom of this post.
We want to highlight one member of the British Taekwondo community who is incredibly passionate about autism in Taekwondo. Dave White from Broughton Scorpion Taekwondo has shown incredible commitment to Taekwondo since he first started at the age of five. Now a 5th Dan, Dave has competed for Great Britain and is the lead coach at his club, where he regularly has participants with autism attending sessions. Dave has autism and attributes his confidence, ability to speak to others and strength in life to Taekwondo and hopes to pass this onto his students.
On Sunday 2nd April Dave led his ‘SENsational’ Taekwondo session for members with Special Educational Needs (SEN). This session was very well attended by people from Broughton Scorpion Taekwondo and other local clubs. Dave obtained funding for this session from a local business, LYNX Fuels, who supported the activities and donated money to buy goodies for the participants which made them feel very accomplished and special.
Commenting on the ‘SENsational’ Taekwondo session Dave White said “This was an amazing day and I truly believe a first for an SEN instructor running an SEN event during World Autism Acceptance Week.”
British Taekwondo will continue their support for Dave to expand his SENsational sessions, if this is something you or a family member are interested in attending, please contact disability@britishtaekwondo.org and Annie will put you in touch with Dave.
We would also like to thank everyone who submitted videos for the ‘Taekwondo Makes Me Feel…’ video, which you can watch here. Almost all participants in this video have autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder. If you would like to find out more about autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder, please visit The National Autistic Society website.
Links and resources:
- World Autism Acceptance Week: What is Autism?
- World Autism Acceptance Week: Introduction to autism – a course for parents, families, and carers
- Safeguarding Children and Young People with Autism
- Making sport accessible for Members with Autism
If you would like to get in touch with British Taekwondo to talk more about our provisions for people with Autism, please get in contact with Annie Rogan, Disability Sport Development Officer at disability@britishtaekwondo.org
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