Oklahoma Teen With Autism Excels on the Ice

"It's taught me to sit still and pay attention because I need to make sure I'm getting on the ice when I need to and getting off; it's really helped with that,"

A Yukon teen is beating the odds in more than one way. The 18-year-old with Autism is excelling in online school and on the ice - as she's the only girl on her hockey team. As it turns out, a not-so-traditional approach made all the difference in the world. Watching her on the ice or hard at work on schoolwork, you'd never know DeeAnna Phillips was on the Autism spectrum. "None of my friends even realized I was until they said something about it," Phillips said.

Though not obvious at first glance, it led to problems for her at school. "Couldn't cross my mid line, so I'd stand up and turn the page and it was very disruptive in school," she said. "I always felt embarrassed that I wasn't normal." The struggles in the classroom eventually led her mom to realize her daughter needed a change. Her freshman year of high school, Phillips enrolled with the Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy - a K-12 online public school.