(CA) Claremont

At our Claremont location, we are a program primarily composed of college students that are members of the Pomona-Pitzer tennis team and/or have experience working with kids with special needs in various settings. We aim to create a supportive community and are always looking to expand our reach and impact.

ACEing Autism is on a mission for children with autism to grow, develop and benefit from social connections and fitness through affordable tennis programming, uniquely serving individual needs while filling a national void for this growing and worthy population.

We aim to be the preeminent thought leader on how tennis and sport develops children with autism spectrum disorder by reaching 50% of the 1M+ families in the autism community and helping them become aware of ACEing Autism, while impacting an increasing percentage of those reached with ACEing’s unique programming.

Trained Program Directors and volunteers lead participants through our curriculum. At the very heart, tennis is a social game that furnishes a natural opportunity to develop and reinforce skills that many children on the spectrum find a struggle: turn-taking, focus and attending, motor planning, fine and gross motor skills, and more. Our Program Directors meet athletes where they are at and progress through our curriculum at their own pace.

We offer weekly tennis clinics for children with autism between the ages of 5 and 18. Our clinics run for one hour, with sessions running for six  at a time. Volunteers are paired up with a participant for the duration of the session. The children in our program do not need prior tennis knowledge as our curriculum & volunteers support each child’s individual abilities and needs to the best of their abilities.