Dundee mum Vicki Simpson-Price has seen her son transform from troubled teen to medal-winning kickboxer.
Vicki is astounded at the physical and mental health changes in 16-year-old Christian since taking up the sport last year.
He was diagnosed with autism aged two and the family faced challenges such as Christian struggling with school, making friends and his mental health.
Through kickboxing this has all changed – and Vicki is sharing the family’s experience in the hope it will help others with autism.
“The impact on our family life is huge,” Vicki explains.
“At one point he was at CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) and we were really worried.
“Now there is no more talk of ‘I don’t want to be here’ or ‘I don’t like life’. That was so hard to hear and so worrying.
“Schooling was a battle, though some of the staff at Ballumbie Primary and Braeview Academy were phenomenal with him and still keep in touch to see how he’s getting on.”
She continues: “Christian struggled to make friends. He’s not able to read social situations and therefore can come across socially awkward.
‘Sitting in the house is not a life’
“We saw all the football parents and the dance parents and we always worried whether he would be part of something.
“My husband and I never used his autism as an excuse and have thrown him into parties, discos, different things – thinking, ‘if other kids are doing it, you can go and try it’.
“I didn’t want him to sit in the house – that’s not a life.”
After Christian was referred to CAMHS, Vicki and husband Adrian introduced their son to a personal trainer – and a love of exercise began to help him.
“Importantly, we saw a massive boost in his mood,” Vicki, a psychologist, explains.
School success thanks to ‘focus’ and ‘discipline’
“Then I heard about Skyaxe, the great atmosphere there and how the kids are made so welcome.
“He took to it like a duck to water and was then picked for the fight team. He’s been training three or four times a week for months now.”
Having been told he couldn’t sit conventional exams, the likelihood of Christian leaving school with qualifications was slim, says Vicki.
“But kickboxing seemed to change his focus and discipline – so much so that he left school with National Qualifications in science, history, English and maths.
“And a school achievement award,” Vicki continues. “We attribute that to being given focus and discipline through the kickboxing.”
Life is really positive for Christian. He has just started college and he’s still on a high from recent success at the World Kickboxing Championships in Barnsley.
“Not only did it allow him to work on fitness, cognitively I believe it opened up neural pathways to new ways to learn,” Vicki adds.
‘Heart of a lion’
“But the biggest thing for him has been social connection. In the last month we’ve really seen this.
“The championships arena was loud and fiery with a thousand people. But he coped so well, stepped into each ring, each fight and giving it his all.
“The coach, Paul Kean, said Christian showed the heart of a lion.
“He battled bravely against fighters with more experience, coming out with three silver medals at his first ever competition.
‘The underdog story’
“The lads of Christian’s age supported him so well,” Vicki continues.
“When he won the semi-final we all just burst into tears. Even Paul had a tear in his eye.
“It was like a scene out of Karate Kid – the underdog story!
“We were so proud and even more so when Paul presented Christian with a ‘fighters’ fighter of the tournament’ belt.
“The boost and the confidence for Christian was amazing. I honestly wish I could bottle that for him.”
The future in sport for Christian looks positive. He has gained three belts in three months and is now a blue belt.
‘Sense of community’
This time next year he hopes to achieve black belt and go on to study sport.
“The team at Skyaxe are fantastic,” Vicki says. “It’s a family and I’m so grateful to them for giving us such support and sense of community.
“I’d say to others, try not to treat neurodiversity as a barrier. Every child, teenager, adult will have their niche and it’s just about finding it.
“It took us 14 years to start finding that but we’re so grateful we have.”
Conversation