(NJ) South Orange

We’re Sandy and Matt LoPiccolo, South Orange-Maplewood (SOMA) parents who fell in love with ACEing Autism after seeing the joy it brought our daughter, Maddie. Like many families, we struggled to find programs where she could truly belong—until we discovered ACEing Autism. The experience has been life-changing: it’s helped Maddie build friendships, confidence, and a love for tennis, all while bringing our whole family closer. That’s why, together with tennis professional Yoofi Derby, we’re launching ACEing Autism in South Orange—to create the same sense of connection, community, and fun for other families like ours.

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 two hours on Sundays in the spring and fall for six weeks (fall 2025 will be five weeks). 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!