Peggy Zavala was busy.
It was the final game of the season for the Costa Mesa Pop Warner Junior Midget Mustangs, and the team mom had orange slices to hand out and minor injuries to check on.
But through it all, she kept close track of her 10-year-old son, Joseph, who plays defensive tackle.
Near the end of the game, which ended as a 38-20 Costa Mesa victory over Santa Ana, Peggy Zavala went over to the bench to check on her son.
"Joseph, there's five more minutes in the game," she said with a smile.
But for Joseph Zavala, there wasn't.
"Actually, there's five minutes and 16 seconds," Joseph responded.
Joseph Zavala wasn't being a smart aleck.
Joseph Zavala has autism.
Peggy and her husband, Anthony, saw that diagnosis when he was just 2 years old.
"He was totally not a normal kid," Peggy Zavala said. "He didn't cry, didn't make any sounds. He didn't like to be touched or held."
The Costa Mesa residents put Joseph in special education classes through kindergarten. Often moody, he didn't have friends over much, his cousins taking their place. He didn't talk until he was 6 years old.
Part of Joseph's disorder for awhile, Peggy Zavala said, was wanting things in threes. This became a problem when she took him to the bookstore one day, with the intention of buying him a single book.
"The children's section was way in the back," she said. "I came to the front with three books, but I only paid for one. When he saw that he was only getting one book, he literally started tearing the store apart. He was knocking over shelves of books. We had walked over there, and I couldn't even get him home."
He still has his quirks, such as only wanting to ride red-colored rides at amusement parks. But perhaps more disheartening to Anthony Zavala — a big football fan — was the fact that Joseph showed no interest in playing sports. But as he grew up and got used to his Risperdal medication, used to treat anxiety, Joseph began showing signs.
Starting in the first grade, he began taking regular classes at Kaiser Elementary School, with big sister Angel — now 13 years old — there for support.
Exercise is thought to be good for children with autism, because it makes their brain function smoother.
The Zavalas' neurologist, Dr. Ira Lott of the UCI School of Medicine, encouraged Joseph to exercise and stay fit.
Joseph also became involved with karate and swimming with limited success, and participated in the Newport Beach Red Hots, a special-education soccer program.
