| A mini documentary about Tommy's running, on his youtube channel |
[Dec. 6th, 2010|01:32 pm] |
Jordan Kawai is a longtime friend of Tommy's brother Paul, and our family. Jordan, along with fellow students Dave Jones and Rachel Croft, created this mini doc about Tommy and his running.
Tommy is an athlete with Autism who lives in Ottawa, Canada. Tommy was always a "runner" (a term used for kids with Autism who often run off or wander), and has had an Autism Service Dog, whose role is to help keep him safe, since the age of 7. In 2006 he began running (in the correct direction!) daily with his Dad and Matrix (his dog). Soon, Matrix and his Dad could no longer keep up! His Dad now rides a bike beside him to keep him safe during runs.
Tommy races in road races, high school cross country and track races, and trains with the Ottawa Lions. He also cross-country skis, and has competed at the Ontario high school championships. Recently, Tommy began paddling with "Paddle All" at the Rideau Canoe Club. He is just one of a number of athletes in Ottawa who have overcome many different challenges to achieve remarkable things through athletics.
Tommy did not begin to talk until the age of 7, and it was primarily through learning to read that he began to learn language. While running, Tommy often chants "I think I can...", recites lines from Disney movies, or sings. He crosses each finish line with great personal pride. Empowered by athletics, he is conquering enormous communication challenges and other aspects of Autism. Tommy inspires many through his determination, enthusiasm for life, and the huge smile always on his face while competing! The Ottawa athletic community has warmly embraced Tommy's uniqueness.
Tommy's mantra is "I'm going to be the first fastest runner in the world!", which inspired the title of this mini documentary. Thank you, Jordan and Dave, for capturing the joy that is Tommy's running and sharing it with others. |
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| Hi! Welcome to Tommytales! |
[Dec. 19th, 2008|01:38 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | artwork, aunts, awards, biking, birthdays, camping, charles, charlotte, christmas, circus, cottage, cousins, cynthia, dancing, dentist, disney on ice, doctor, easter, farm, fireworks, friends, grand manan island, grandparents, halloween, hiking, holidays, horses, iain, kevin, laura, matrix, my brother, neighbours, piano, pinata, running races, sandy, sara, school friends, skating, ski racing, skiing, stories, summer school, swimming, tariq, teachers, thanksgiving, train, trampoline, uncles, websites, yoga | ] |
I hope you have fun reading my live journal. I have not been writing here as much in the past year. And some of the links to photo slide shows were not working, but my mom fixed them and now they work! You can also click on the Tags above to see my entries about different things. You can reply to my entries or ask me a question at the bottom of the entries where it says "Click here to post a comment".
Have a nice day,
Tommy |
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