(TX) Houston - Rice University

If you're interested in joining our Houston Rice University volunteer team, please add yourself to our list by joining our User Group Here!

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.

At the Rice University chapter, our university students as well as students from neighboring high schools volunteer their time to establish lasting friendships with participants and their families through their shared love of tennis!

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. The Rice University clinics run for one hour every Sunday from 4-5pm, with sessions running for six 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!