…[8-year-old] Sonya, who on Sunday earned her black belt, is autistic. She’s been training … since she was 2 years old.
Her parents and her instructors have been learning about autism while Sonya has mastered taekwondo. It might seem counterintuitive: an autistic child and a training that requires the utmost discipline and patience. But ever since her parents, David and Olivia … first brought her to martial arts master Dan … Sonya has been defying the odds.
Sonya is one of [Dan’s] youngest students to earn a black belt.
…The martial arts have “given her direction,” Olivia … said. “We’re so proud. It opens up so much for her.”
The test itself reflects the progress Sonya has made: she meditated for eight hours and fasted for a day, and she is demonstrating her mastery of taekwondo, sparring with instructors and breaking boards with her bare hands.
…[David and Olivia] started bringing Sonya to the DoJang before they knew she was autistic. Her older brothers … were enrolled in classes. Training got off to a rough start: Sonya ran around in circles a lot…
But they stuck with it. In a way, the three of them have learned together how to help Sonya. Some days, she’ll still protest before practice begins or struggle with following the instruction, but the trio has learned triggers – she responds to colors as code words, for example – to keep Sonya focused.
“You do have your highs and your lows. It’s like a chess game. You have to think three steps ahead of the child to get them to do what you want them to do,” [her father] said. “It’s a train, and you have to get it back on the track.”
[Her mother and father] credit Sonya’s teacher’s patience for her success. And although he’s clearly taught her well – 2 to 4 percent of students receive a black belt, [Dan] said – the 8-year-old has taught him something, too.
“I always believed I could do it with her. I just didn’t know how long it was going to take to reach her,” said [Dan], who has trained for 35 years and earned a gold medal at the U.S. Taekwondo championships. “It was an experience for me. She taught me how to deal with people in different ways. Everyone doesn’t come out like a cookie factory.”
Since taking on Sonya as a student, [Dan] said he’s added eight other special needs students at The DoJang, where about 80 students are in training. Sonya is a ‘born leader,’ he added, and she has been instrumental in assisting her classmates.
**[Dan], his fellow instructors and Sonya’s classmates have become like an extended family, [her mother] said. They go through ‘the highs and the lows’ together.
They all found satisfaction in her accomplishment.**
…“When we first found out she was autistic, they said it was going to get worse before it got better. It was really hard,” she said. “But we kept going. Never give up – that’s what I’ve always said to her. Just because you have special needs doesn’t mean you can’t be as good as anybody else.”