“With Josh’s autism, being healthy is really hard. He is a very energetic 5 year old who is verbally autistic with severe SPD, ADHD and anxiety. He’s not able to participate on a normal baseball or sports team because of his attention span and sensory issues. It breaks my heart telling him he can’t do that. There’s no way he would be able to and he just doesn’t understand. With a lot of organized sports, it’s really difficult. But now, with the Miracle League coming to Eau Claire, there’s a great opportunity for him to be a part of a sports team and participate in it. It’s a great opportunity for all of the kids. With the Miracle League, no matter what their disability is, each player is paired up with a buddy. That buddy then helps them. Every kid plays the outfit, every kid bats, and no matter what their disability level is, they’re able to play and be part of the team. For the first time, we went to the Eau Claire Express game on the 4th of July. Josh actually got to go on the field and practice with the players. He got to run down the first base line and sing the national anthem on the field. It was his first time ever in any stadium at any sports venue. So now, for him, he’s even more excited for the Miracle League. He’s constantly looking at the pictures of the field and can’t wait to play. The field is going to be rubberized. It’s wheelchair and walker accessible. It eliminates the risk of fall for kids. I’m really excited and really happy they’re bringing it to the Eau Claire area. Josh already has friends that he’s going to be playing baseball with next year. He’s super excited. He doesn’t like being in public with a lot of people, but this will help him come out of his shell and it will help him with social interactions. It gives him a purpose to go out and do something. With the Miracle League, he will be able to get outside and be active. To me, I value the emotional support he will get from this, along with the physical support. I have been researching Miracle League’s in other areas, and they have done excellent things for kids.”