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MSU hoops grad promotes autism awareness

Anthony Ianni photo
Michigan Lt. Governor
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Anthony Ianni of Okemos played basketball at Michigan State. Current Sports host Al Martin talks with him about his efforts to promote greater understanding of people on the autism spectrum.

At the age of four, Anthony Ianni  was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder, a condition on the autism spectrum. Doctors told Anthony’s parents that he would barely graduate from high school, would never graduate from college and would likely need to be institutionalized for his adult life.

His parents were devastated, but pledged that Anthony would be successful no matter what. And he is. Despite bullies and numerous personal challenges, Anthony worked hard and never gave up.

Not only did he earn his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from MSU, he is the first known athlete with autism to play Division 1 college basketball.

Current Sports host Al Martin talks with Anthony Ianni about his remarkable life.

Al Martin is the host of Current Sports, the daily radio call-in program from WKAR NewsTalk. Al is also on the WKAR News team as a regular sports contributor and plays a key sports reporting and content role on all other WKAR media platforms.
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