The Ref Stop

Autistic Player

C

cdsman

Member
I've just read the thread about making allowances for a child with one arm taking throw ins, and it reminded me of a question I'm keen to get views on.

I'm a referee and a coach at youth level. I have been asked by another coach in my club whether he should tell each referee before his matches that he has an autistic player in his team?

The reason that he is thinking about this is that the child doesn't react well to decisions going against him and struggles with voicing this dissatisfaction in an acceptable manner. He can be loud and vocal, and struggles to control these outbursts. He was recently booked for dissent, and then stormed off the pitch. The coach was allowed to sub him, but he's concerned that he's going to get sent off because once his 'switch is flicked' he needs time to be able to calm down - not a referee demanding that he speaks to him.

As a referee it's difficult to know how we should make allowances for certain players and when we should just follow the LOTG. Unlike the one armed player taking throw ins, this lad's problems are not obvious to anyone else on the pitch, or watching, and any dispensation could be seen to be inconsistent with the treatment of other players.

I wasn't sure what to advise, but didn't see any harm in mentioning to the referee before the match.
 
The Ref Stop
Hmmm.... i'm not unsympathetic toward the player but the conduct expectation and lotg are the same. Being the devil's advocate.... if you were to make allowances where would you stop? How about a kid who is diagnosed bi-polar? diagnosed with depression/anxiety? Oppositional/defiant ? How would you know that it is a legitimate claim and not just cover for bad behavior.

Now say this player does go off (dissent) because his 'switch is flicked' and you do not address it as you normally would, others who are unaware are going to act in the same manner would have a reasonable expectation to have similar dissent dealt with in a similar manner. Are you going to explain to all of them that he has a medical diagnosis revealing confidential medical information? So you don't and another player does the same thing and you send him off?

No way. Failing to call fouls based upon this will jeopardize the safety of the other players and when calling this if the kid "goes off" and you fail to address it properly (diagnosis or not) then you will have further dissent. Ultimately, even though the child may legitimately have a disorder, you must still address the conduct appropriately or you will have HUGE issues. I wouldn't recommend telling the referee, it is rather incumbent upon the coach and parents to reinforce with the player proper ways of handling things.

Just my opinion.
 
It's a difficult one, especially with the differing opinions on the one arm thread.

Playing devil's advocate, imagine if more and more teams told you a player had autism so that player could get away with pretty much anything.

For me, it doesn't change the LOTG for that individual.
 
For me, the sensible thing to do would be to alert each referee to the potential issue AND as referee to brief the opponents coach, if the kid factually has autism (and this is a behaviour with potential to cause a situation) I don't feel any confidentially is being breached and its being proactive to all by being aware of it.
It gives you freedom as referee not to excuse any blatant misbehaviour but to be more understanding of it.

Plenty of times in past coach has said to me, number xx is asthmatic, fine, not a problem, if you need to run on with inhaler or need me to stop game without hesitation, that's what will happen.

same with epilepsy, don't even look at me to come on or wait for my signal, just do it.


forewarned is forearmed.

pointless waiting till after the game to find out you might have been better prepared for (most) eventualities.
 
As a referee I'd like to know. I would still treat him equally as far as punishing dissent or fouls etc but knowing the issues, the way I communicate my decision would be different and with more care.

What is important thought is that the coach is aware having a player like that is a much bigger responsibility for him/her. Depending on the type and severity of autism it could also be a safety issue for the referee and or others. What does he do if he wants a pass and the team mate doesn't pass it? How about if the coach wants to take him off and put someone else on?

I have actually seen a 6 foot 4, 120Kg guy who had a combination of autism and down syndrome (EDIT: not sure of the autism but he did definitely have down syndrome) take a swing at the referee and chase him for several minutes around the court. It was two years ago in a national Futsal tournament with a division for "Aesthetes with disability". The administrators, coaching stuff or his carer just couldn't stop him. The referee had to be locked in a room until he was gone. He ended with a ban for life.
 
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I have experienced the above.
A guy much bigger than me at a tournament, he halved an opponent, and was going to lay seven shades out of him, it was a 7s enclosed pitch with gate closed, I (maybe right,maybe wrong) ran across, put myself between them (opponent on ground, other player standing up) and then he went for me......

Maybe luck, maybe chance, maybe experience, maybe just playground training(!), I was able to restrain him (just) until he finally stopped struggling and was talked round by (his mother!) and coach .

It was that or suffer what would would have been a violent attack, and if anybody thinks am standing there letting anybody fire pot shots at me, well, no way.

Of course by now all and sundry were watching, from other parks and organisers and other refs/medics etc.....not a single word of criticism of how I handled it, if anything, relief that I prevented the other guy from being ripped in two.

extreme, yes indeed and I certainly hope it never happens again in any game am doing !!!

but living proof it happens.

and as above, he was then banned for rest of tournament, life time wise, I don't know
 
alexgr said:
This is literally not how autism works, at all
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I never said how autism works. Please don't read into it. My point is, it is ultimately not responsibility of CR to develop an IEP (individualized education program in US schools) changing how a game is refereed. I agree with One that it may be good to know for my approach when I administer a card but the cards will still come out.
 
Ciley Myrus said:
forewarned is forearmed.

pointless waiting till after the game to find out you might have been better prepared for (most) eventualities.
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I use to referee a team which had a deaf lad playing for them. No point long blast of whistle or demanding to speak with him, as he would hear you. He could lip read, so speaking to him was OK. The biggest problem was him not hearing the whistle, so he sometimes continued playing - chasing a long ball forward, rounding the goalkeeper and scoring only for it to be "chalked off". If you were not aware, then you may book him for delay of game when he did not even realise the game had stopped.

Best be aware, so you manage the situation.
 
Kes said:
It'd make no difference to me.

I'm there to referee what's in front of me as per the LOTG.
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And what is in front of you is a player who requires you to change your approach to dealing with them. I don't mean not carding when required, but certainly being aware of the way in which you are communicating.
 
Edit: Took out top line, when I read it back it was total nonsense

My opinion, I'd like to know prior to the game so I could change the manner in which I mean address them. Maybe with less volume or with a less forceful tone but in terms out of the outbursts from the player himself, I think that's down to the Captain/Coach etc to manage.
 
alexgr said:
And what is in front of you is a player who requires you to change your approach to dealing with them. I don't mean not carding when required, but certainly being aware of the way in which you are communicating.
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Possibly.

I'm not totally indifferent to empathy whilst wearing black mate but there's another 21 players to consider.

Not quite sure what you mean by "the way in which you are communicating" either to be honest?

My communication method with players has always worked well for me with any age group but I'm there as a referee, not a carer, mentor, parent or otherwise. If matey's behaviour is at odds with the LOTG then that's for him and his coach to worry about.

Sure, we can all say "yeah cut him a bit of slack or perhaps allow the benefit of one or two more verbal warnings etc." and I probably would, but would/should you do the same at adult level?
 
Kes said:
Possibly.

I'm not totally indifferent to empathy whilst wearing black mate but there's another 21 players to consider.

Not quite sure what you mean by "the way in which you are communicating" either to be honest?

My communication method with players has always worked well for me with any age group but I'm there as a referee, not a carer, mentor, parent or otherwise. If matey's behaviour is at odds with the LOTG then that's for him and his coach to worry about.

Sure, we can all say "yeah cut him a bit of slack or perhaps allow the benefit of one or two more verbal warnings etc." and I probably would, but would/should you do the same at adult level?
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But lets say you're a referee who likes to be heard, making it known who's in charge and goes in all guns blazing. If you've been warned that a player has autism and is likely to respond badly to that kind of approach through no fault of his own, why wouldn't you change the way you communicate? The punishment would be the same, but surely you'd adapt the approach?
 
QuaverRef said:
But lets say you're a referee who likes to be heard, making it known who's in charge and goes in all guns blazing. If you've been warned that a player has autism and is likely to respond badly to that kind of approach through no fault of his own, why wouldn't you change the way you communicate? The punishment would be the same, but surely you'd adapt the approach?
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I think I already answered that in my previous post to be honest? :)

I guess I'd be mindful of it but can't say I'd change how I approach players in a communicative sense. Personally, I think that a referee who "likes to be heard, making it known who's in charge and goes in all guns blazing" probably needs to change his approach anyway ;) but that's not actually how I'd describe myself FWIW. :cool:
 
Depends where on the spectrum the person is, autism is not one size fits all. Referees would need alsorts of training to not just understand ASD but to also realise how their own words, actions and body language can be interpreted differently. I would prefer to know personally but would like to think that as I work with children with social emotional and mental health issues including ASD (autism spectrum disorder) that I would recognise young people with this. Indeed in my small brief referee experience to date I’d say that in at least a third of the matches so far there have someone on the spectrum. Yes they react differently to certain situations but it’s not their fault. And by far the most important thing to bear in mind is they do not want to be treated any different to any other player. That is a Recipe for disaster
 
cdsman said:
The reason that he is thinking about this is that the child doesn't react well to decisions going against him and struggles with voicing this dissatisfaction in an acceptable manner. He can be loud and vocal, and struggles to control these outbursts. He was recently booked for dissent, and then stormed off the pitch. The coach was allowed to sub him, but he's concerned that he's going to get sent off because once his 'switch is flicked' he needs time to be able to calm down - not a referee demanding that he speaks to him.
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I've got a 26 year old 'Teenager', we call him our Kevin & Perry, ALL of the above still apply!!! and he's not Autistic, just a fecking pain sur la derriere!!!
 
Having coached a team of disabled footballers, I'd ask referees to behave exactly the same way they usually do. We had one young lad on our team - probably eighteen or so at the time - who had a tendency to fly into a rage when provoked. I'm not properly trained in the subject so I can't offer any explanation, but at one point he was unhappy with a call, and so stormed off the pitch, calling the referee all sorts of colourful names. The referee came to the edge of the field, and told him, "If you're going to speak to me like that, you can have one of these," and showed the red card.

Cue pandemonium. He went absolutely ballistic, and (I'm not proud to admit this) I rugby tackled him to prevent him sprinting onto the field where I assumed he was going to attack the referee. After telling him (while he was still on the ground) to calm down, his mum took him home. I imagine there was a better way to handle it, but if I had let him on the pitch he would have attacked the referee and got himself a lengthy ban. The referee did nothing wrong - it's their job to enforce the Laws and I certainly would have done the same, were our positions switched.

Unfortunately, disability football is one of the areas where a situation like this can happen, but I don't think it's any likelier than mainstream football. The only advice I'd venture to offer would be to do things as you usually would, and perhaps talk to the coaches/parents on each team beforehand to see if there's any potential areas where you need to be careful, in terms of your own safety.
 
This is why I would like to know before the game.

In above senario while I would say the same to an abled body person, for an autistic person something like "that sort of language is not accepted in football. I'm left with no other option".

The difference being one is very personal about both the referee and the player. The other is more generic and makes it about following what's right. It could still get a reaction, but possibly less likely and less severe.
 
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