Autistic figure skater trains hard for 2015 Canada Winter Games

WATCH: Canadian athletes have been training hard for the Canada Winter Games in Prince George. Among them is a Calgary athlete who will represent Alberta in the only Special Olympics category: figure skating. Lisa MacGregor reports.

Like all of the athletes competing in the 2015 Canada Winter Games, Jorden Tyson is training hard before heading to Prince George in the hopes of reaching the podium.

The only difference is that Jorden has autism, diagnosed when she was 20 months old.

READ MORE: Manitoba’s Christian Higham aims for the podium at 2015 Canada Winter Games

The Calgary native is competing in figure skating, the only sport at the Canada Winter Games that also includes Special Olympics events.

Tyson has always had a passion for performing.

READ MORE: Representing B.C. at Canada Winter Games a family tradition for Jordy Bellerive

“I took dance when I was nine years old because I did everything: ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, jazz, tap and many more,” she says.

READ MORE: Manitoba’s Christian Higham aims for the podium at 2015 Canada Winter Games

When Tyson discovered the Special Olympics, figure skating stuck and she’s been training hard ever since.

Tyson’s coach says teaching athletes with intellectual disabilities comes down to finding the right instructions, figuring out “how to say it so they understand it properly and process it. Generally, that’s where it takes a little longer, just for them to process. But a waltz jump is a waltz jump.”

-with files from Lisa MacGregor