Autistic Teen and His Love for Golf

In essentially a fluff piece from WCCO’s Mark Rosen (fluff in journalism is referred to stories included that are meant to fill time but not necessarily hard-hitting), a 13-year-old autistic teen is featured for his love of golf. Charlie Bristow took a golf class last year and immediately was hooked. Charlie took lessons from an Applewood Hills golf pro this year and Charlie and his father hit the links once a week during golf season.

In fact, the story’s so fluffy, we don’t really know what Charlie’s issues were before he started taking up golf. The only clue to life before birdies came from his father, who said Charlie finally found something he knows he can do well. The only point viewers could really take is how finding an activity that an autistic person excels at could be key to solving some issues autistic children often face, although the idea of finding ways to keep kids engaged and entertained has been fed to us by mainstream media outlets for many years.

Does that make Rosen’s story a waste of time? The answer isn’t clear-cut. The story first appeared on Rosen’s Sports Sunday, Mark’s Sunday night sports show. Sports segments carry about a quarter of the total viewing audience for a news broadcast, but those who truly dig sports will hang around. While the Vikings will always carry the Twin Cities sports headline in games they play, Rosen was left with a rut. The Wolves are still in preseason mode and already written off, the Twins won’t make news again until spring training as they made another first-round exit, and the Wild are just starting their season, but with low expectations from the locals. While the firing of University of Minnesota football head coach Tim Brewster also made news, there was little to discuss because the reason was very clear. No better time to roll out stories like this, even if the reporting is very basic.

For parents with autistic children, the strategy revealed by this story is identical to the game plan for any child: search high and low for a productive activity, and obstacles will find themselves evaporating.

Mike Peden

Mike Peden brings a rarely discussed perspective on autism news: he was diagnosed with the disability in 1991. His explorations on autism led to an Alliance for Community Media Hometown Video Award in 2008 in the Documentary - Public Awareness category, and he currently deciphers evolving trends in autism coverage.