April is Autism Awareness Month, and to celebrate the month Abby will be profiling hockey players who have been diagnosed with Autism and sharing their stories and achievements in the sport.
If you go into your local hockey rink, you will find young skaters buzzing around the rink with their parents and coaches helping where needed and finding the love of skating and the love of ice hockey.
Walker Aurand’s introduction to the sport was no different when at two years old, Aurand got on the ice and naturally took to skating, finding quickly as he grew older that it is the only place his mind is clear.
Even though this may be a familiar feeling for most hockey players and hockey fans, what most players do not have in common is Aurand’s diagnosis of being on the Autism Spectrum.
Diagnosed with Autism at three years old, Aurand and his family did not let that stop him from playing the sport that he loved.
His parents found that there were changes early on in his routine, transition, fine motor skills and there were some sensory issues. Even though hockey was a larger part of helping Aurand adapt to the world, his parents found other ways to help him when he was feeling overwhelmed such as swinging him in a blanket to feel physically better or use food smells like cinnamon to help his brain feel organized.
Aurand was not without challenges but had a great support system through his immediate family. Aurand’s mother, Mrs. Aurand, is a speech pathologist that works with children that are similar to her son and was able to aid Aurand in overcoming such challenges. Aurand’s dad, Mr. Aurand, was his coach on the ice. One example of helping their son was teaching Aurand how to spell. They would put plates on the net with letters on them, allowing Aurand to spell the word they were working on by shooting the puck.
Aurand was able to also play with his brother, Brendon, mainly in high school where Brendon was able to help Aurand understand challenges such as sarcasm in the locker room setting.
Playing ice hockey helped Aurand to gain self-confidence and learn social skills. He eventually attended Davenport University in Michigan and played defense for their Division I ice hockey team; after playing junior hockey for the Dells Ducks in Wisconsin. Mr. Aurand was the goalie coach at the university.
Aurand earned his degree in marketing with a focus in sports and is currently a graduate student at Devonport. He is striving to be in sports media in analytics or as a blogger and would also love to coach.
Aurand stated in an interview that he believes that Autism had given him in ice hockey as he is obsessive, which pushed him to have a good work ethic and be more of a perfectionist; helping his game.
In his senior year at Devonport, he tied his record in 34 games with nine points, one goal and eight assists.
thepigeoncoop.blog 