Boxing club reaches out to developmentally disabled

Few people really understand the world that David Haynes lives in.

There's his family, his treatment team, and now Francisco Rodriguez, owner of the Tazmanian Boxing Club in Carson City.

"David doesn't relate to everybody," said his mother, Barbara Haynes. "And when he doesn't feel right somewhere, he's unhappy, he wants to leave, and he's uncomfortable."

But from day one at the Tazmanian Boxing Club with Rodriguez, she said, things just seemed to feel right.

"He's comfortable here, he's comfortable with Cisco," she said. "Cisco really understands him."

Until a few months ago, there had been trial and error trying to find the right extracurricular activity to fit David's challenges.

David is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, she said, and the 13 year-old middle school student ranks low on the high autism spectrum.

"He speaks, but he has trouble expressing himself," Barbara said. "David's also a severe hemophiliac, a severe bleeder. So we have to be careful with what he does."

Impact of any significant intensity puts David at high risk because of his bleeding disorder, she said, so he is restricted on the physical activities he is allowed to do.

"He can't really play a lot of sports at this time," Barbara said. "But with autism I don't think he understands the sports."

She said David has tried golf and swimming, but either the activity is too complicated or the lessons hold neither his interest nor his attention for long.

"He tried golf, but he didn't understand that concept to hit a little ball by swinging," Barbara said. "Swimming is difficult, too. The lessons only reach so far and he's not listening anymore because it's getting difficult."

She said David really benefits from getting one-on-one instruction, per the structure of his self-contained classroom at Dayton Intermediate School.

In a group setting, she said, David can get lost and easily overwhelmed.

"It's hard to get a one-on-one with other classes, and then they have to go with a regimen, and he's not up to that," she said.

Earlier this year, Barbara fell into conversation with Cisco Rodgriguez, a courier and co-worker at Carson-Tahoe Health (CTH) in Carson City.

Haynes, who works at the registration desk in the CTH Cancer Center, learned that Rodriguez was training clients suffering from Parkinson's Disease.

When she told Rodriguez about her son's condition, the former professional boxer and titleholder reached out to her.

"He said, 'Bring him in. We can do anything,' " Haynes said. "He's just a very positive person."

Rodriguez said he has purposely tailored his gym to respond to the individual needs of people.

He said he never wanted a conventional boxing club, but rather one that can make a difference in other peoples' lives.

"I didn't want this to be like any other boxing gym," he said. "I want it to help people."

He said he doesn't shy away from the many different conditions or impairments that are out there.

Instead, he believes in giving anything a try.

"I will never know until we do it," Rodriguez said.

In the beginning, Haynes admits being somewhat skeptical about her son boxing, because of the severity of his autism and also the risks posed by the hemophilia.

"I wondered if he really understood," she said. "I didn't know if he was going to get it."

But those questions were swiftly answered on the first day of training, Haynes said.

Not only did the activities pique David's interest, but athlete and coach took right to each other, too.

"Cisco had me sold on the first day," she said. "He was so good with David."

Ever since then, the pair has gelled better than Daniel Larusso and Mr. Miagi, working in tandem one-on-one.

"Cisco is incredible with him, and he knows what he's doing," Haynes said. "Here he can come in and Cisco's going to modify the routine for the day. That's huge for David."

When Rodriguez told Haynes he would work with David and modify his routines, he wasn't kidding around.

Haynes said the very first time David went off by himself at the gym, she was tempted to redirect him back to the training.

But Rodriguez stopped her, she said, and asked her to wait and just let him go.

"David was having a rough day, and he didn't want to follow rules," she said. "He would run off to the other side of the gym, and I wanted to go after him. But Cisco said just let him go and see what he does."

David surprised Haynes by essentially following a work-out routine he made up as he went along, she said, trying several of the different stations.

"He went off on his own, and it's the most he has done ever on his own with an exercise routine," she said. "He felt so comfortable here to be able to do that."

Rodriguez has been able to successfully balance David's need for hands-on work with an equally hands-off approach when circumstances merit.

"Last time he came in, he wasn't feeling too good and started running around, so we waited about 10-15 minutes and let him play," Rodriguez said. "If you force him to do something, he will get really upset and he won't do it. I just let him play, run around, and when he's ready he'll do it."

The strength of their relationship is trust, Rodriguez said. Without that, there wouldn't be much benefit to the training.

"With David, I have to be patient," Rodriquez said. "I also have to build trust. I have to trust him, and he has to trust me. I don't show respect if I don't show trust in him, or he will walk away. We take it step by step, one day at a time."

Contact is very minimal, too, Rodriguez said, with sparring punches amounting to light touches of the gloves.

Rodriguez, whose career record is 28-4-4 as an Arizona state champion and bantam-weight World Boxing Council Latin America title holder, is as gentle as they come around David, always cognizant of his health and developmental challenges.

"I'm patient and make a game out of it," he said. "He's playing with me. It's nothing but a game. It takes him a few minutes to get into the work out, but once he starts he just keeps going and going."

Haynes said she is not only impressed with how well David has taken to the sport of boxing, but also by the flexibility that Rodriguez displays.

It's an irony, because persons with autism are typically very rigid and inflexible, she said.

Flexibility, it turns out, is the key to connecting with David, Haynes said, and it's something Rodriguez is highly skilled at.

As the father of six children, Rodriguez understands that each child is different and requires different approaches stay motivated.

"Each one of them is different. Their attitudes, the way they talk, every kid is different," Rodriguez said. "You have to be able to learn with them."

For Rodriguez, that means cueing in to David at the start of each session to get a sense of where he is at emotionally.

"David's got a different mood when he comes here, and Cisco just works with that mood for the day," Haynes said. "There's not a lot of people who can keep David going. When he's tired, he's tired. Cisco is able to keep him going for one hour straight."

Haynes said Rodriguez is always prepared for David's unpredictable moods and behaviors, too, rolling with his client wherever he's at that day.

"Cisco has modified this so well and works with him on each specific date on where David's at to be successful," she said.

While flexibility is key for Rodriguez to work with David, a certain level of predictability, a sense of comfort needs to exist for the autistic person to feel safe and assured within themselves.

That's why the one-hour training sessions are held at the same time on the same day each week. And each time, it's the same person -- Rodriguez -- who greets David as he walks through the door.

"He knows he's going to get his boxing gloves on and that Cisco will be here to work with him," Haynes said. "Just knowing that Cisco is here is consistency, and it's the type of consistency David needs. It's in the same place every time, it's not changing a lot up."

Besides being a good source of bonafide physical exercise, boxing helps David build social skills, too. That is perhaps one of the most valuable skills he is learning from Rodriguez, Haynes said.

"David laughs and he smiles. I think it's building his confidence, and it's good interaction," she said. "David is learning social skills at the same time."

It's not just Rodriguez that David interacts with at the Tazmanian Boxing Club, either.

He has been assertive enough to get in the ring and spar with other boxers, too, Haynes said.

"There was one time when one of Cisco's boxers, Ivan, was here. He's like 17, a really nice kid," she said. "He was practicing and working out. David just got in the ring, held his gloves up, and started sparring."

For autistic persons like David, building social skills is about much more than learning to interact with others on a healthy level, Haynes said. It's really about opportunities to become more self-confident.

"What Cisco's doing, it's not just helping with the work out, but it's helping tremendously with him feeling more positive about himself," she said. "It shows him he can do what anybody else can do."

Rodriguez said society doesn't do people like David any favors by treating them different and labeling them because of their impairments.

"We call them special needs, but here we don't treat them different. We treat them like everyone else," he said. "They are people just like the rest of us. David is one of my fighters. He has the same desire as other fighters, the way he comes to the gym. He comes here and he loves it."

This past Saturday morning, David has just completed his hour-long work-out with Rodriguez. He goes over to his mother, handing her his boxing gloves.

"We had to buy these," Haynes said, revealing the bright purple leather and laces. "He wanted the purple ones because Cisco has the purple ones."

Moments later the trainer walks over and regards his pupil.

"How are you feeling?" Rodriguez asks his student. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah," David said.

Rodriguez, hands on his hips, looks quizzically at his young client.

"Why? David, we didn't do anything today," he jokes. "We've got three hours to go."

David, a serious and weary look in his eyes, regards his mother.

"Back to the car," he said.

Haynes waits for Rodriguez, knowing her son hasn't been dismissed yet.

"Why?" Rodriguez asks.

In the background, a timer alarm begins to beep.

"Hey, the timer," Rodriguez said, looking at David. "Let's go turn it off."

David, beginning to get anxious, looks from the direction of the timer back to his mother.

"Mom," he said.

Haynes remains quiet.

"You have to help me David," Rodriguez called out as he walks back toward the timer.

"Mommy!" David said with increasing distress.

"You have to help me," Rodriguez repeated.

"Mom!!" David cried.

"Come on David, come on!" Rodriguez urged.

Finally, David complies and goes back to help his trainer turn off the timer.

It is a moment of mounting distress for the autistic youth, but not one that couldn't be overcome with the right balance of patience and persistence from Rodriguez.

A crisis and a meltdown are avoided, and Rodriguez sends his student out the door with a hug.

"You are doing so well," the coach tells his athlete. "I'm so proud of you."

At the Tazmanian Boxing Club, the word "can't" is not in the lexicon, Rodriguez said. Keeping a positive, can-do attitude is what makes improvement possible, he said.

"A lot of people say you aren't capable, you can't do it, but we are the ones that say you can," he said.

He tells that to David Haynes everyday. And, the most remarkable thing of all is that the young man has begun to believe it himself.