Atkinson was recognized as autistic and with consideration deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD) aged 10, and 6 years later it was confirmed he had cerebral palsy.
“I am greater than only a label,” he insisted. “I’m my very own particular person and even with them you’ll be able to obtain something you need.”
He describes his expertise of being neurodivergent as each a blessing and a curse.
“It is a blessing as a result of you may get tremendous focus and particular pursuits, so one particular curiosity for a number of months might be aerodynamics or numbers or sprinting,” Atkinson defined.
“You obsessively give attention to that particular factor till you might have perfected it.”
Atkinson discovered college difficult and mentioned he was bullied for taking part in Para-football, clips of which surfaced on social media on the time.
“You do get these sure few who take it to the acute,” he mentioned.
“They’ll have one thing in opposition to you fully since you’re autistic or totally different and, for no matter purpose, they do not like that.”
PE classes had been additionally notably problematic.
He was not picked for groups initially as a result of it was perceived that his autism would cease him from being any good.
Atkinson mentioned: “After a number of years they labored out ‘oh, he has some expertise’ so then they’d choose you on their staff. It is not very good.”
Regardless of the difficulties, Atkinson caught to his love of sport, finally discovering Para-cycling.
“I feel loads of neurodiverse children wrestle with sports activities,” he mentioned.
“I feel if colleges had been to give attention to supporting these children with further wants to assist them do sport, it will massively enhance them.”
Atkinson is evident that being neurodivergent can help make it to elite sport, specifying a “particular capability to tremendous focus or hyper fixate”.
And it was additionally bodily exercise that taught him how one can handle troublesome instances.
“Sport was there as my type of freedom, my outlet,” he mentioned.
“If I had a foul day in school, I might go play soccer or run round within the backyard or experience my bike and that made me completely happy and be at liberty.”
