(TN) Pulaski

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.

Bill Riddle is a veteran with over 30+ years of college, junior and club coaching and management experiences and is recognized as a High-Performance Tennis Specialist by the PTR, USPTA & USTA.  He has helped to develop and coach a number of local, sectional, national and international junior tennis players both on and off court through direct involvement as well as through camps and training blocks. He found his way back into college coaching in 2019 and serves as the Men’s & Women’s Head Tennis Coach at The University of Tennessee Southern.

Claire Paul is a special educator, and serves as the Program Coordinator for Special Education at The University of Tennessee Southern. After spending 7+ years in K-12 special education, Claire began instructing in special education in higher education in 2017. After completing her Doctorate in special education, she became an Assistant Professor at UT Southern, where she wrote and implemented the special education program. She is also involved in Special Olympics with Area 34 in Giles County.

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!