The Alternative Baseball League provides playing experience for athletes with special needs

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- For most, playing baseball was part of their childhood, but for Taylor Duncan that wasn't necessarily the case.

"I was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4," Duncan shares, "As I got older, I faced a lot of social stigmas, and I was often precluded from the same opportunities to play the traditional sports because of their negative perceptions of what one with autism can and cannot accomplish."

Duncan didn't want anyone else to experience that feeling of exclusion, so he founded the Alternative Baseball League. "Alternative Baseball provides the authentic baseball experience for teens and adults ages 15 years of age and older with autism and other disabilities for physical and social skills enrichment in life on and off the baseball diamond," Duncan explains.

The league, which follows Major League Baseball rules, started in January 2016 in Duncan's small town of Dallas, Georgia. Today, Alternative Baseball can be found in 52 cities across 23 states. And according to Duncan, participating in the league offers players more than a chance to experience the American pastime, it can help teach life skills.

"They are going to need to learn how to become independent and being able to participate in independent activities alongside others just like themselves really can become the first step in the right direction," Duncan shares.

Duncan plans on expanding the league to more cites across the country. Visit this page to get involved.

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