I decided to try to teach him to ride a bike.
He agreed.
We tried on grass. He fell. The grass was wet. He melted down completely.
We tried on a tennis court. He fell. He didn't even scratch a pinky. He melted down completely, burst into tears, stamped his feet, and ran away.
Now, we COULD try training wheels - but with a 5 foot tall 12 year old??
We COULD quit, but we have a 12-mile long bike trail going in just down the road, and it'll be a fabulous route through tidal marshes, woods, cranberry bogs... I am NOT going to miss out on that, and I want Tom to enjoy it too.
Any thoughts much appreciated!
Power By Ringsurf
6 comments:
My son is learning to ride a bike too, he's 9. His OT is trying to teach him at school. In Ellen Notbohm's book "Ten Things Your Student With Autism Wishes You Knew" on page 99, she writes that the adapted PE teacher taught her son Bryce to ride a two wheel bike in 3-15 minute sessions. Ellen writes that the long version of how the PE teacher did it is a story for another book, but the short version is about believing in the child and instilling that in them. I would write Ellen and ask her for the long version explanation of how her son was able to learn in less than an hour.
Mine child is 10 years old now. He learned about two years ago.He fell quite a bit though. He learned in our large driveway - and has progressed to riding on the 3 mile bike / walk trail in Weatherford,TX where we live.
He used to get so upset with himself for falling over. Helmet, and body pads are a necessity - of course! Now we use this for an example everytime a new skill is attempted. Just keep working at it !
Mine child is 10 years old now. He learned about two years ago.He fell quite a bit though. He learned in our large driveway - and has progressed to riding on the 3 mile bike / walk trail in Weatherford,TX where we live.
He used to get so upset with himself for falling over. Helmet, and body pads are a necessity - of course! Now we use this for an example everytime a new skill is attempted. Just keep working at it !
Thanks so much! I will check in with Ellen on her secret methods... at this point, I'm thinking training wheels, if only because Tom is okay with the idea... but there may be a better way.
Lisa
Hi,
Check out Fatwheels.com. They have "training wheels" for larger sized bicycles (16 to 26 inch) that can support up to 180 lbs.
Hope this helps.
hi--my daughter who is nt had trouble learning to ride a bike. (my son with aspergers did not have trouble). here is the methed that is supposed to work for many kids--take off the pedals (yes, take them off) and let the seat down to the lowest level so your son's feet can touch the ground to stop whenever he wants to. do not use training wheels. let him use the bike like a LIKE A BIKE to get the balance. then put the pedals back on. this is the method that was used in new york city for kids of all ages this summer. I saw a video of it but its not there anymore because the event has passed. good luck
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