Barefoot Autism Challenge 2025 officially begins

 

Well ladies and gentleman, boys and girls of all ages, the 2025 Barefoot Autism Challenge is underway! As many of you know, the theme for this year is about being barefoot in nature. So that means you can go on a barefoot walk at your local park on the trails, on the grass, in the mud (my personal favorite), in the water, in the sand, climbing a tree, or in the snow if you still got some. Though I hope that we don't have a lot of snow this spring.

Here's some examples:

My friend Reann barefoot in the snow

My friend Katie and I barefoot on green grass

Me barefoot on the sand at Gray's Lake

My feet in the water at Gray's Lake again

My feet all covered in mud

The practice of being barefoot in nature is called Earthing. Earthing is proven to be beneficial to mental health by making people feel relaxed, happier, less back pain, and improved sleep. So this April, I encourage you to go barefoot in nature this April and use #barefootautismchallenge in your pictures and/or videos. There might be autism events or nature walks in your area that you can share the Barefoot Autism Challenge with as well. Check with your local autism organizations for details. Have fun this April!

Eva Erickson on her autism story

For those of you have watched Survivor on CBS every Wednesday, you have probably seen a woman by the name of Eva Erickson on the Lagi tribe. Eva is the first openly autistic contestant on the show. She already shared her story with one of the cast mates Joe who was originally on Lagi but got moved to the Vula tribe. She told Joe about how the doctors said she would never live independently or hold a job and at most she could hope to marry someone else who's autistic. But her parents refused to give up and now she is in mainstream not just with school but on a hockey team at Brown University. Eva said there may be moments where she could get overwhelmed and she needed to have someone in the game that she could trust and help her when she has episodes where she gets overwhelmed. In the last episode after the challenge before Tribal Council, Eva did have an episode when she got frustrated and after completing the challenge saving her tribe she was overcome and was full of emotion. Jeff Probst, the host noticed Joe was looking at Eva knowing what was going on and Probst asked if Joe wanted to give her a hug. He accepted and reminded Eva to take deep breaths and he held her hands because Eva said that helped her when she gets fixated.

After the challenge, Joe said that he wants to be an example to his kids and have them be the kind of person he wants them to be and that's why he helped Eva even if that meant exposing a relationship in the game. Eva shared her story with the whole cast and the floodgates were open even for Jeff. He called it a beautiful moment, and I for one agree. I was on the verge of tears because I couldn't help but see myself in Eva. I too can get frustrated on certain things and I might need help and comfort from people too. Eva is in my opinion a big inspiration to those who are autistic and I hope she gets far on the show if not wins the million dollars. Watch the clip to see the whole thing. Word of warning: you may need tissues.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbgXyK9CHZ0

 

Barefoot Autism Challenge Interview on Channel 13

 Tune into Channel 13 news at 4 pm to see me be interviewed by Erin Kiernan. She connected with me as she has a son who's autistic and she was looking for resources and was told by the Autism Society of Iowa about my challenge, and from then on we were doing interviews for my challenge and for an autism series she did in 2022.

Feel free to check out Erin's page on Instagram and Facebook as she shares more about her experiences with her autistic son, and some tips about autism. For those of you outside of Iowa, I'll share the interview when it's posted.

Love on the Spectrum

Hey guys. April 2nd is Autism Awareness Month as you all know. But did you know it's also when Love on the Spectrum season 3 premieres? I watched it before on Netflix. It's a great series about autistic people who are looking for love.

Some people from past seasons are returning like Abbey and David, Adan, David, Dani, James and Connor, with plenty of newcomers like Pari and Madison.

To learn more about the people on Love on The Spectrum, check out the link below, and catch up on it on Netflix.

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/love-on-the-spectrum-season-3-release-date-cast-news

Special Olympics Iowa Spring Classic

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone. This last weekend, I was in Iowa City for the Special Olympics Spring Classic (formerly known as the Mid-Winter Games). Between you and me, Spring Classic is a better name than Mid-Winter Games because with them already having Winter Games, it got pretty confusing.

I competed in Special Olympics since I was 8 years old starting in track and field. Since then I've done other sports such as volleyball, basketball, golf, bowling, bocce, and softball. I competed in basketball last weekend after not doing the sport for about seven years. My friend Katie, who is also autistic and loves being barefoot inspired me to try again since she was participating too. Unfortunately, she had an injury and couldn't take part in districts or state and we really missed having her on the team. That being said, my team, the Gryffindor's, part of the Des Moines Metro Champions delegation played two games at the University of Iowa Fieldhouse where they have their indoor swimming pool and six separate basketball courts.

We played against Arc of Story County and Link Associates, which were the same teams we played at districts. What was different was we played the two teams in reverse order. We barely beat Arc at districts but they beat us this time at state. Let me tell you it was not easy playing against them. My competitive nature got me worn out quick. This is a mistake I made a lot even as a kid. Link Associates was a breather round since both teams were more laid back, but we won against them. It was rough beating them since one member on that team was someone I've been good friends with for years. But at the end of the day, it was all about having fun.

We brought home silver medals, and the Special Olympics staff had one for Katie as well. I accepted it on her behalf and will be giving it to her when we have another Special Olympics event.

Thank you Des Moines Metro Champions for having me on the team, and I look forward to more sports in the future.

Hear Me Speak: Understanding Autism Through Our Voices

 

One thing that inspires me about being an autism advocate, is sharing my story with other autism families who are looking for tips and tricks, inspiration, or hope for the future. I've shared my story at conferences, autism fairs, and now most recently through a new book put together by the Autism Society of Iowa.

The book is called Hear Me Speak: Understanding Autism Through Our Voices. It's a collection of stories that myself and other autistic people wrote and wanted to include in the book. My section covers parts of my childhood into adulthood. It was all part of a book I was working on and never got the chance to finish. But after hearing what the Autism Society of Iowa was doing with this project, it's a good thing I didn't because with this book, you can gain a little inspiration from me and some of my friends who wanted to make their stories heard.

To purchase a copy, check out Amazon, contact the Autism Society of Iowa or wherever books are sold

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYV3LGYV?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Why Barefoot?

A common question I get asked is "Why Barefoot?" Well the answer I suppose started 2013. I came across a former barefoot runner named Angie Hotz (Barefoot Angie Bee) who used to live in Iowa and has an autistic son named Jupiter. I tried walking barefoot after talking to her about it, and from then on I was hooked. I even took part in the TOMS Shoes One Day Without Shoes event. I discovered I enjoyed the sensations against my bare feet such as the mud between my toes, the grass tickling my soles, the textures against my skin and the contrasting temperatures between warm and cool.

When doing my research, I found out that a lot of people who are autistic don't like their feet being constricted. Some autistic kids have even took there shoes and socks off outside of home. After finding that out, I decided to create this challenge to have people understand the sensory aspect of autism. The feet are also the more sensitive parts of the body so it made a lot of sense.

After 2017, I'm surprised that my challenge has gone on so long. People are still curious about my challenge and they sound intrigued by what I do. With April fast approaching, I'll be surprised to see how many people shed the shoes, free their feet and show support for autism awareness.

 

Introduction

 I started the Barefoot Autism Challenge in 2017, and now I'm starting my blog relating to the challenge. It's about time I did something like this! Haha!

Anyways, my name is Tyler Leech, Special Olympics athlete, autistic, self-advocate, and founder of the Barefoot Autism Challenge. I created this challenge originally to get the now defunct Barefoot Runners Society more active, but now it's become something bigger than I can imagine. On this blog, you'll hear a lot about stuff related to autism, being barefoot, some of the fun events that I will be a part of in the autism community, a bit of my self-advocacy, and more.

In the meantime, you can check out my challenge on Facebook and Instagram and check out my Zazzle store where you can purchase merchandise with my challenge logo on it. The money goes to the Autism Society of Iowa.

https://www.zazzle.com/store/bac_2017_store

https://www.facebook.com/BarefootAutismChallenge

https://www.instagram.com/barefootautismchallenge/