My son was diagnosed with Autism when he was 10. We had tried every sport including ones though Oakland University with no luck of catching his attention. We stumbled into Coach Ackner’s program during the pandemic. My son showed some interest in wanting to try tennis and another mother posted about Coach Ackner offering lessons in our town Facebook page seeing if there was any interest. There ended up being so much interest he had to make three different sessions. After watching my son come home every day tired (with a smile) and not being able to stop talking about what he learned I knew we found the right program. He not only taught my child how to love tennis but to actually be involved in a sport as a teammate. He has a lot of social anxiety especially with peers, but each practice I saw him excel more and more not just in the sport but his peer-to-peer response. A few months later I saw our high school was looking for a tennis coach. I knew that Coach Ackner already had a lot on his plate but also knew he would be great for the position. He of course with no hesitation was offered the position and definitely put the hard work into our school's program. My son is a freshman and this helped him transition into high school sports. I truly don’t think any other coach would have worked with my son not only on the sport but his social interaction like Coach Ackner did/does. Coach Ackner put him in doubles which made him depend on another peer to succeed. We are anticipating the next season and private lessons to continue the growth. Thanks to Coach Ackner my son is active in school sports/functions and will earn his Varsity letter.
Since I started working with Andrew my skill at tennis has noticeably improved. By working with him I’ve been able to compete on my high school team which was a lot of fun.
Andrew is such a great coach, he not only works on skill development but also is able to explain how to play the game and when to use new skills. He sets up concrete goals to work towards and makes tennis fun. With Andrew’s consistent encouragement our son tried out for the high school team. We are grateful he could introduce a new sport that can be played for a lifetime.