Mark Skogg and his son Matthew, 8, enjoy an afternoon at Beach Bowl Saturday. Mark Skoog is organizer of a bowling league for autistic children. (photo by Chuck Adams)

A mixed-generation league at Beach Bowl Saturday looked very much like any other group of bowlers, with children anxiously awaiting their turns and parents offering guidance and encouragement.

But for this group of 33, bowling is more than a fun activity: the children, all of whom have autism, learn social skills while their parents get some camaraderie.

“It’s really for the kids to have some fun,” said Mark Skoog, organizer of the bowling league and father of an 8-year-old, high-functioning autistic boy, Matthew.

“It lets them know there are things they can do,” Skoog said. “They learn structure by having to wait turns. It teaches them to be part of a team. It teaches them to be independent, and a little bit of social interaction."

The league is funded through Healing Every Autistic Life (HEAL), an organization founded by Bobby and Leslie Weed of Ponte Vedra Beach and their autistic daughter's doctor, Julie Buckley, who also is Matthew Skoog's doctor.

“It’s a non-profit that’s designed to help autistic children in any way they can, especially with the social skills,” Buckley's husband, Dean Buckley, said at Saturday's bowling session. “HEAL is sponsoring this event to help the special needs kids interact with each other and behave as normal as possible.”

A complex developmental disability, autism typically shows up in the first three years of life, according to the web site of the Autism Society of America, http://www.autism-society.org.

Adults and children with autism "show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities," the site notes, adding that autism is known as a "spectrum disorder" because symptoms vary on a wide spectrum.

Affecting one in 150 births in this country, autism has no known single cause, "but it is generally accepted that it is caused by abnormalities in brain structure or function," the web site notes.

Although autism affects each person differently and in different degrees, early diagnosis is considered crucial because of the possibly benefits of early intervention, according to the autism society.  

Skoog said his son exhibits signs of classic autism: hand flapping, biting and language barriers.

Asked by a visitor about his bowling skills, Matthew replied, “I great.”

The youngster's grandfather, Tom Hoffman, said the "old mindset" of locking away autistic children is fading.

"I’m a real believer that the more you expose the public to what is happening, the better it is not only for the public but also for the kids,” said Hoffman, who with his wife Sharon watched Matthew bowl.

Skoog said the parents as well as the community benefit.

“It lets them know parents can go out and be with like-minded people," he said, "but it also teaches the community we’re out here . . . and we can do things just like anyone else. That’s the big thing.”

Buckley said bowling has been used as therapy for autistic children for decades.

“It’s the physical and occupational therapy and the social interaction, which is so missing" among autistic children, who often are isolated from their peers.

"That’s the one component that, as a parent, you grieve, because they don’t know how to interact. Everything is black and white to them. There’s no gray area.

“[Here] they root for each other,” Buckley said.