DT Moton Hopkins, who grew up with an autistic brother, is part of the 2018 Diversity is Strength CFL program, following his retirement as a Redbrick in 2017. Having seen his brother being bullied and having been bullied as an overweight teenager he has focused on dealing with speaking to school kids about bullying.
https://www.cfl.ca/2018/08/08/playin...mpact-schools/When he got to the CFL, particularly in his time in Ottawa, Hopkins began speaking at schools about bullying and trying to understand people that are different than you.
“I enjoy talking about it. I understood that because we’re athletes, because of the position that we’re in, that they’ll listen to us,” he said. “Even if we’re saying the same things that their parents are telling them. It’s always been a thing where I’ve wanted to use that to help someone out, help somebody’s kids and put them in a better position. “I’ve had friends that had opportunities and didn’t take advantage of them and they’re kind of worse off, or they’ve thrown away their lives to an extent because they didn’t have that person to tell them, ‘Hey don’t do this. This isn’t as cool as you think it is and this person’s leading you down the wrong path.’ That was a big thing I wanted to do.”
Whether it’s in kids becoming more aware of their words and actions, or the world in general gaining a better understanding of what Autism is, Hopkins sees progress being made.
“From the time we were younger, people knowing about what autism is, special needs, compared to now it’s significantly different,” he said. “We would go out and people just wouldn’t understand. (Asking) why he’s making noises, all these things. It’s easier for him to go out now because people understand. They have more information, people are more accepting of it, whereas when we were kids that wasn’t the case. Years ago, our doctors didn’t even know how to handle it. There were no dentists that we could take him to before, because they didn’t (take Autistic patients), things like that.”
He takes pride in having spoken to thousands of kids over the years and relishes even hearing back from one kid that said he reached them, that his words made a difference. “You can’t affect everyone but if that one person hears your message and it’s better for them, it was definitely worth it,” Hopkins said.
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