When Ben Loeb spoke with his long-time friend and fellow tennis coach from Springfield, Mo. about his friend’s son’s autism, Loeb was aware of the disorder. But he wasn’t prepared for learning about the impact it had on his friend’s family and the challenges created by raising a son with severe autism.
“It really stuck with me,” Loeb said. “To hear about everything families endure and overcome when living with autism, the challenges they face on
a daily basis, it served as a motivation for me to seek out ways that I could help in some small way.”
Loeb has always been a huge proponent of sports and activities. He’s served as the tennis coach at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia since 1994, winning four straight boys state titles and five straight girls state championships dating back to 2014. When looking for ways to support families with autism, the first thing that stuck out to him was the Tiger OT swim program, offered by the University of Missouri School of Health Professions and Thompson Center occupational therapists.
The Tiger OT swim program primarily serves children with autism and focuses on water safety as well as teaching children on the autism spectrum to enjoy swimming. Drowning is the leading cause of accidental death for children with autism, so the program focuses on teaching children how to remain safe, as well as how to save themselves if they were to fall into a pool or other body of water.
“We want kids with ASD to do typical things in typical places with everyone else,” said Dr. Lee Ann Lowery, a Thompson Center occupational therapist and Tiger OT swim program organizer. “We see many benefits in addition to learning to swim. Many of our kids begin to use more spontaneous language. They also develop confidence. It’s the best feeling to see a child accomplish new goals in the water.”
Loeb realized that this program combined two of his interests: supporting families with autism and fun sporting activities.
“Teaching kids how to swim and be safe as well as giving them a lifelong sport and activity that they can enjoy with their friends and family, that’s what really interested me,” Loeb said. “Swimming is also something many of these kids can go on to participate in with competitions as well as healthy exercise. It’s just a great program all around.”
Loeb’s passion for the program led to him deciding to generously support the program financially. This support helps the program hire lifeguards and rent access to the Mizzou Rec pool for lessons.
“We offer our program free to our families,” Lowery said. “Support from donors like Mr. Loeb is what makes it possible for us to offer this service for free. We are so thankful for his ongoing support. He surely is making a difference in the lives of our patients and their families.”
Ben Loeb, along with his two sisters (Kathy and Nancy), funded the University of Missouri Al and Joan Loeb Endowed Fund at the College of Veterinary Medicine, which supports research into degenerative eye diseases. Ben also supports the Richard Loeb Memorial Scholarship Fund, which is a scholarship for students studying personal financial planning. He is also a member of the Mizzou Athletics Tiger Scholarship Fund.