Orlando signs Diamondback hats at a recent charity event.
Orlando always knew that he wanted to be a major league baseball player growing up, but he never imagined that his heart would also lead him to become an advocate and spokesperson to fight autism. Hudson’s passion for working with autistic children started as a youth growing up in South Carolina. Orlando told his mom that if one day God saw fit for him to make it to the major leagues and make some money that he wanted to help autistic children because he felt they were getting shoved to the side. Along with that a cousin was born with autism, and Hudson saw firsthand the challenges a child and family face with when dealing with ASDs (autism spectrum disorders). From then, Orlando began to volunteer in to help children with autism. He furthered his interaction when he was in the minor leagues when he would substitute teach to earn some extra money and give back to the students in his community during the off season. This is when he really saw the problems concerning autistic children in education.
While spending time in the classroom, Orlando saw that the children seemed to sit in a classroom all day without windows. There was some interaction with the teachers and students but not enough for Orlando. Throughout the day, he found that many of the children were autistic. The children enjoyed their time away from the classroom in lunch so much that he noticed a change in them when they returned back to the window-free place of learning. After being called in to substitute in the same class several times, Orlando became attached and knew that he wanted to help the children feel just like the other children in the school.
Two years later, Orlando was called to the big leagues and knew that with the money he wanted to help the autistic children in Darlington and abroad to have a school experience like that of all children that incorporates the proper tools for learning and therapy. Annually, Orlando has a charity basketball game in Darlington that supports autistic children in the county. The game is named after three students that touched and continue to touch his heart dearly – Mary, Brittany and Matthew - The MBM Basketball Classic. The money goes directly to the special education department in Darlington County to help the children to enjoy fieldtrips and receive all of the therapeutic attention they need.
After seeing that autism was not only a problem in his home town, but one of the entire U.S., Orlando saw that it was time to make a difference abroad and thus founding CATCH. The numbers of children with autism is increasing at a vast rate and CATCH wants to be a foundation that helps to put a halt in the rise of the disorder.
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