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Idea was born by a regular disc golfer at Ronnie Van Zant Park

By Bruce Hope
Posted 1/20/21

LAKE ASBURY – About two years ago, Kaiyne Faucett discovered that his son Kayden has autism. Instead of wallowing in sadness, he dug into research on the topic, learning everything he could in …

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Idea was born by a regular disc golfer at Ronnie Van Zant Park


Posted

LAKE ASBURY – About two years ago, Kaiyne Faucett discovered that his son Kayden has autism. Instead of wallowing in sadness, he dug into research on the topic, learning everything he could in order to better parent his son.

Now he also has a plan to bring more awareness of autism, starting in Van Zant Park, where he plays disc golf about four or five times every week.

“So I’ve been doing a lot of research and as much studying on it, as much as I can, so I can learn more, especially as a parent so I can learn how to deal with it,” Faucett said. “Before I got into it, I was like, I love playing disc golf. I wonder if I can show my support for autism and autism awareness and my son. So I drew up this design, and I had a family friend of mine, and she helped me redo the design so I can get it put on a disk.”

After he talked to some fellow disk golfers in the park, it’s Faucett’s goal to have the design printed on disks in the park and give them out to other players. By doing that, he hopes to increase awareness of the condition and spread knowledge about it.

Kayden is diagnosed on the lower end of the autism spectrum and should become a high-functioning autistic adult, his father said.

“We have him in a whole bunch of therapies the last couple years, and it’s helped out a lot,” he said.

Faucett said after talking to other disc golfers about his plan, there is some interest in the project. Often, people don’t know very much about the condition, which would be a way for him to bring awareness within his community. Hopefully, other players can spread the information.

“I talked to a few other players, and they thought it was an amazing idea, and they would love to get one [a disc with the design on it],” said Faucett. “I didn’t realize how many other people that played had relatives that deal with it on other levels other than just hearing about it.”

For now, he’s planning to make any money from his idea. He is just trying to raise awareness. However, if the demand grows, he said he would consider selling them and donating the proceeds to an autism charity.