On Sunday, October 11th, twenty volunteers and ten athletes met on the Proctor Tennis Courts to kick off the first of five ACEing Autism clinics to be held at Middlebury College this fall.

ACEing Autism is a Los Angeles based non-profit whose mission is to support children through the sport of tennis.  Middlebury College student, Richard Liang ’28, worked for six months to launch the first Vermont chapter with assistance from 20+ community and state organizations, and guidance from staff members at the Center for Community Engagement. Liang was also able to secure funding from the United States Tennis Association to cover the cost of all participating athletes through the fall.

The volunteers who came out to the October clinic included 17 Middlebury College students, 2 local high schoolers, and 1 retired special educator–it was great display of community collaboration in an effort to support autistic youth.

“We look forward to continuing this chapter for years to come,” says Liang, “and we hope to build a more neurodiverse community at Middlebury.”

Congratulations, to Richard Liang and all the volunteers on the successful launch!