Taekwondo saved Germán from isolation due to autism

Ángeles Cruz Martínez

La Jornada Newspaper
Tuesday, December 24, 2024, p. 8

Germán looks to the side or up. You know that if you talk to another person, you should look them in the eye, but I can’t control it. When I realize, I returnexplains this 20-year-old young man, who lives with an autism spectrum disorder that he has been able to cope with with the support of his mother.

From a very young age, Guadalupe Campos took him to early stimulation, motor and language therapies.

The psychologists and neurologists consulted by the woman thought that the child had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He was not a candidate for medication treatment and could get by with various exercises to help him pay attention, stay still at school, and follow commands.

With that diagnosis, Germán attended primary school. Guadalupe got the teachers to make some curricular adjustments to help her son and one of her aunts served as shadow monitor; That is, he accompanied the child in his classes and made sure he paid attention.

He succeeded academically, but he had no friends. He always remained isolated and withdrawn, he was a victim of bullying and therefore preferred to be at home. He only talked to his mother, but he was intolerant of noise. Even the sound of the blender bothered him or maybe it hurt himremembers Guadalupe.

That’s how it grew. Since he didn’t do any type of exercise, he gained weight. And he has a hobby: he collects candy wrappers that he keeps in several albums. It is a characteristic of the autism spectrum.

For this reason, Germán remains attentive to each new presentation of the products to buy them immediately.

When he entered high school, there was a program to identify students with a disorder or risk factor for a mental disorder. This is how Germán, at 13 years of age, arrived at the Juan N. Navarro Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, where the specialist doctor made the diagnosis of functional autism.

There, he and his mother learned about autism spectrum disorders and that in Germán’s case he did not need medication, but rather continued with behavioral therapy and help to continue in high school. He completed it despite the rejection of some professors; The isolation persisted, as did the teasing of the students.

Guadalupe enrolled him in an open education system for the high school level, but I was not progressing with advice for exam preparation. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic and online classes at another school benefited him.

He had his classmates that he saw through the computer, but there was no need to interact with them. He was happy because he didn’t feel watched. With an average of 8.9, he finished high school a few months ago.

In the meantime, there was another opportunity for Germán at a taekwondo school that opened near his home and where another of his aunts teaches classes with Johnatan, his partner. The professor remembers that when he met the young man, six months passed before he spoke to him. “He greeted me, ‘hello’ and that’s it. One day he started talking to me. But I realized that it didn’t do anything. He spent his time sitting with his video game. “I didn’t want to receive him at school, only his brother Rafael.”

When Johnatan approached him with the project and the invitation to be part of the team, the young man, who is two years older than Germán, accepted with one condition: that he also be his brother. That was Rafael’s idea and he had to convince Germán, who initially refused. He preferred to be at home, without doing anything or having to see anyone.

That was three years ago. Today, the story is completely different. The discipline of martial arts helped him improve. He learned to tolerate being touched and making noises because in the bulldog the teacher shouts all the time, they themselves have to shout when they throw a blow or kick.

He still gets nervous and his family notices when he starts rocking his body as if he were in a rocking chair (another characteristic of the autism spectrum).

But he already talks to his teammates, they invite him to birthday parties and he is one of the most prominent in taekwondo. Perform the exercises very well and hit hardcommented his teacher. He is so good that a few days ago he obtained the first dan black belt degree.

Additionally, as part of the exam for this level, he wrote a thesis about his autistic condition. He presented it in public and it was approved.

In the conversation with this newspaper, which at first answered with monosyllables (yes, no, a little), Germán gained confidence and commented that he chose his situation as the topic of his thesis so that other people like him know that in taekwondo you can have a tool to express yourself and gain confidence. That happened to me. At first it was very painful, but now it’s done. I feel like I can live more, I talk more than beforehe says while smiling and looking us in the eyes.