Lax Traders Inc./Lacrosse the Spectrum is a 100 % Volunteer 501(c)(3) registered non-profit that was founded with the mission for Autism Awareness, Education and Inclusion in sports.  Our founders each had a passion; lacrosse and autism.  They decided to bring those two together into one cause.  Lax Traders 4 Autism (now known as Lacrosse the Spectrum) was founded with four main principles; Autism Awareness, Education, Advocacy and Inclusion.  There are myths, misconceptions and just plain incorrect information about Autism that is startling; one of the biggest myths is that children with Autism cannot play sports.  Children with Autism face many challenges from a variety of directions; social, processing, coordination, speech, etc....  While some children may struggle with sports most aren't even given the opportunity to try simply because of the myth that children with Autism can't play sports.  Sadly once a child has the autism label; they tend to be automatically removed from sports and sadly some parents are told that their child will never be able to do certain things.  

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There may be some hurdles to cross but there are many children with Autism that not only play sports but excel at them; some of our volunteers are a testament that with the right foundation and support sports and autism can coexist. Our mission is to simply give these children the opportunity to try lacrosse to be included and not just watch from the stands; a sport they more than likely would have never been exposed to; if they enjoy it and even just take a stick, a ball and throw it against a wall for an hour a day; then we've completed our mission. 

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There are thousands of athletes on the spectrum across many sports and we try to highlight them for their accomplishment.  We have interviewed many of these athletes and nearly every single one has said the same thing; "Just let me try, even if I fail."  Any athlete needs to fail before they can succeed; we focus on what each child CAN do and not what they can't do.  

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We also encourage those children with other processing, learning differences and physical abilities to join us; lacrosse is for everyone. We strongly believe in the original Native American Medicine Game as a game that was provided by the Creator for healing.  

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