'Never give up': Tamworth student Lachlan Rickard soars high

For it was a year in which the Tamworth South Public School student excelled.

At school and in sport, Lachlan - who has autism with an intellectual disability - notched a number of notable accomplishments.

They include him picking up a discus and shot put for the first time and qualifying for the NSW PSSA Athletics Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre in October.

At the championships, the 12-years multi-class athlete finished second in the discus with a throw of 12.81 metres. In the shot put, he threw 4.42m.

The performances marked high points in his continued improvement, and resulted in him qualifying for the School Sport Australia Track and Field Championships at St Leonards, Tasmania, in November.

At the nationals, Lachlan came third in the discus with a throw of 14.99m and sixth in the shot put with a throw of 4.89m. Both were personal-best efforts.

"Never give up," Lachlan told the Leader in an email.

The youngster employed that mindset to soar high in other aspects of his life this year.

Michelle Sisson said her son had "always been a leader in his own way", and earlier this year he became a school prefect and a member of his school's parliament.

"However, only six months ago he wanted to be included with the mainstream students after being in a support class for all of his schooling," Sisson said.

"This made us get Lachlan and his younger brother Bailey classified as T20 [since] both boys have autism with an intellectual disability.

"This is when Lachlan picked up a shot put and discus for the first time."

T20 is a classification for disability athletics.

"I'm so proud of him," Sisson said.

Following the nationals, Lachlan - a cousin of leading Tamworth multi-class athlete Olivia Earl - was named his school's male sportsperson of the year and then received a sports scholarship.