(IL) Evanston

Claire, Melanie, and Nick are super excited to lead this season as program directors! Get to know a little bit about them below:

Claire is currently a junior at Northwestern studying Neuroscience and Biology on the pre-medical track. She has been volunteering and working with ACEing Autism for the past 5 years and has loved being able to see the impact it has on the participants. She is excited to see how our Evanston/Chicago program will grow this season.

Melanie is currently a junior at Northwestern as well, studying Cognitive Science and Chemistry on the pre-medical track. She does not have tennis experience and goes to show that anyone with a passion can volunteer, even without having ever played tennis. She cannot wait to see what we can accomplish as a team this season!

Nick is a medical student at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He grew up playing tennis in San Diego and is very excited to be part of the ACEing Autism Evanston/Chicago program!

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 to eight weeks at a time. Volunteers are paired up with a participant, hopefully 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!