During Autism Awareness Month, Basketball Phenom Speaks At St. Joe's
By Hadas Kuznits
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In honor of Autism Awareness Month, St. Joseph's University hosted a very special speaker, last night.
Despite being diagnosed as highly functioning autistic, Jason McElwain says he doesn't know much about autism. But he knows a lot about basketball. He's the student whose 2006 Youtube video of him shooting six three-pointers in four minutes went viral.
"Sports is like life. You're going to have turnovers in a basketball game. You're going to have missed layups, you're going to have missed shots. Things are not always going to go your way. The only three things you can control are your effort, your attitude and your character."
Dr. Michelle Rowe helped bring McElwain to St. Joseph's University as a speaker for Autism Awareness month.
"Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It has marked impairment in communication, in social interactions, along with restricted and competitive interests."
And it's quite prevalent.
"The recent CDC studies have indicated that it is 1-in-88 children and also 1-in-74 in the state of Pennsylvania."
Kuznits: "What do you want people to learn about autism?"
"It's an obstacle. You need to work as hard as you can and if you never give up you'll never fail."
