[QUOTE=Doodersma]
Speed defnitely helps with the stability. Do his wheels lift up at all? You know, so that rather than being even with the bike wheel, they're off the ground a little? Then a little more? Etc...
[/QUOTE]I don't recall the name of the book. I'm on the road this week so I can't check.
Niki,
Glad to hear this worked for your daughter. The bike issue is a tough one. I agree that slow speed will definitely impact stability. I would definitely see what advice a PT would have in this situation.
It's going to be hard when your son realizes he's being teased. My brother (AS) rode his bike with training wheels, but was unable to master the two wheeler, so he simply stopped riding his bike. Finally, when he as 10, I taught him how to ride on 2 wheels, but he was never comfortable doing it so simply didn't ride. It was sad because his gross motor issues prevented him from going comfortably on 2 wheels, and he couldn't use training wheels because of the social stigma associated with it after a certain age. He KNEW the other kids were making fun and it made him upset and embarressed.
I wish I had an easy answer for you.....
Oh Mason is the exact same way with his fear of failure...it is a huge battle to get him to try something new! I am a little leary about taking off a wheel, thinking he will just say forget it I don't want my bike.
But that is a great idea with the basement. 1/2 of our basement is finished but the other room that isn't is pretty big and wide open! If I put his bike down there this winter with just the left training wheel he could practice all winter!
And I will definitely get on the PT thing...I've been kind of putting it off, just because we were so busy. Bad on me!! I can't possibly complain that he can't ride his bike when I'm not doing all I should be doing to help! I'm starting my phone calls right now!
Thanks!!
From what I've seen, most kids around here are off training wheels by end of kindergarten. My kids both point out (to my horror) when other kids still have training wheels. They aren't intentionally cruel, they just ask "why does so-and-so still have training wheels?" I definitely think it is something that kids will notice, and the older he gets, the more he will be teased. That sucks, but it's reality.
I posted this a while ago buried in another thread, but I figured it might be a good idea to put it out there again. I know many ASD kids have trouble learning to ride a bike, and tis the season for biking (at least here in the USA). Since we did this with the boys last summer, we've passed on this technique to many friends who have all had the same success.
My dh read a book on biking with kids and there was a chapter on teaching your child to ride a bike. It was a different approach than I had ever seen and I must admit I was a bit skeptical. At the end of last summer dh took training wheels off the bikes and had both boys riding two wheelers like pros within 1 - 2 hours. No falls. It was amazing. (Note that C does not have any gross motor issues, his skills in that area are on par with his NT twin.)
I'll try and summarize the technique.
1. Get your own bike out and lower the seat so that both of your feet are flat on the ground when your butt is in the seat. Then take the training wheels off of the childs bike and lower the seat as low as it will go.
2. Show the child how to sit on the seat and pick both feet up off the ground and try to balance. Count out loud how many seconds the child balances with no feet on the ground. Make a game of it. Demonstrate how turning the handebar can help balance. Once the child can balance with both feet off of the ground for 5 seconds, move on to step 3. (You are ignoring pedals throughout this entire step. Feet should be in the air.)
3. Show the child how to glide forward on the bike by taking "giant steps." This is basically gliding the bike forward, butt in seat, by taking giant steps with alternating feet. This is why it is important to start with child's seat at lowest level. If seat is too high it is impossible to do this step. Once child is comfortable moving up and down the driveway like this, move on to step 4.
4. Have the child take 3 - 4 giant steps to get going, and then have the child pick their feet off the ground like they did in step 2 and glide with feet in the air. Count out loud how many seconds the child glide without their feet on the ground. Make a game of it. (Note, we are still ignoring pedals, feet should be in the air.) Once the child can glide for 8 - 10 seconds without putting a foot on the ground, go on to step 5.
5. Have the child take 3 - 4 giant steps to get going, and have them pick their feet up like in step 4 and then tell them to start to pedal! Once they get good at pedaling, start raising the seat up a bit to a normal height.
The key to this approach is to get the child comfortable balancing on a bike before teaching the child to pedal. The old "run, push and let go" technique requires the child to learn to balance and pedal simulaneously and typically results in many falls, which can scare a child and make them not want to try again.
I know that tackling the bike issue is a big challenge for those with kids who have gross motor issues. It may take a long time to get through the above steps. However I think this approach is really good for ASD kids because it breaks the complex task into simpler skills and then builds on them. It also greatly reduces the risk of falling/injury.
If anyone has questions on this or wants to discuss further, please PM me and I can give you my phone number and you can talk to dh. He's the resident expert in our home and can probably explain much better than me! I think this is a GREAT process for ASD kids because it breaks it down into simpler steps/skills that can be worked on - much better than the push-run-release-fall method!
Thanks Kristy!!
You know I remembered you posting this once before and that is actually the process that I used with Jozlyn!! It was wonderful! And thank you so much!
Unfortunately with Mason it didn't work...He got mad as soon as I took the wheels off his bike. I thought maybe with teaching Jozlyn too he would be a little more apt to try. He did get on his bike a few times, but as soon as he couldn't balance he got mad. So I let it go and tried the next day. For a few days we went through this process, the whole time me trying to encourage him that he could do it. But in the end, he just couldn't keep that bike balanced. So I gave in and gave him his training wheels back. But I copied this the last time you posted it, hoping I would be able to try it again with him in the future.
I think I'm going to take the one wheel off and have him get used to leaning the other way. And once he seems to be doing that, I will try this again. You know one thing I am thinking with him too, is that he doesn't pedal very fast. So of course when he would try to ride a bike it's going to be pretty wobbly if he doesn't have the right speed. That is something I should bring up with the PT too, huh?
Speed defnitely helps with the stability. Do his wheels lift up at all? You know, so that rather than being even with the bike wheel, they're off the ground a little? Then a little more? Etc...
Niki,I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was about 10
No time to read all the replies, so hopefully this isn't redundant.
First, lots of six year olds are still using training wheels - that's well within typical age, from what I've seen.
My son didn't take off training wheels until about 6.5. It was a confidence issue for him - he was afraid to fall (very cautious kid).
What worked was buying an undersized bike that he could easily put his feet on the ground and stand up over the seat. Once he knew that he could just put his feet down to avoid a fall, it all came together.
I bought him this undersized bike one day and the next day he was riding it. The day after that, he was riding his full sized bike. Two days and it was mastered - this is after several months of trying and failing.
I'd recommend buying him an undersized bike and then have him just practice scooching around on it, picking up his feet and balancing for a bit, and see if that helps.
Hi all...I'm just wondering if there is anything I can do about this.
Mason is 6 and now in first grade. He likes to ride his bike to school, but he still has training wheels. We have tried many times to help him to learn without the training wheels, but he just seems to have NO balance. He's clumsy, just walking.
When we walk I hear several kids say things, mostly to each other, about his bike still having training wheels. [QUOTE=emerald_521]
J can't even ride a bike with training wheel. Not strong enough to push the peddles. Kids are getting nasty towards other kids. I don't remember nasty comments like that when I was a child but J. gets those too by kids with nasty personalities.
I learned to ride a bike by going down the hill with no training wheel on. I would only recommend it ,if the child has good balance.
Jacob was 4.5y when he got his training wheels off. My youngest NT dd was 4.5y also.
But....my 2 NT older girls seemed later. My oldest was at least 7 or 8y. And my very active #2 dd was at least 6-7y.
Each kid is different. I always remember the "rule" is about age 6-7y when you take the training wheels off.
Maybe my younger 2 did it early because they had small bikes and they are very tall!
I know exactly what you mean...I think I'm going through this rut where it's all I've been thinking about. I don't know if this is the 'correct' thing to say, but it was easier for Mason to blend when he was younger. Now that he is in 1st grade I'm seeing all these little things just popping out...things I never really thought about before, and it's just breaking my heart. It's easy to see a 3 or even 4 yr old having a tantrum in a store. Seeing a 6 yr old and a big one at that, and you just get all these looks. If adults can't control their stares and sometimes comments, how am I supposed to sit back and think a bunch of kids are going to. It's what I think too...not the if it happens--when it happens.
I'm so sorry to hear it was so difficult for your brother growing up. He was so lucky to have you. You definitely made some hard times easier for him! And as hard as it can and probably will be at times for our kiddos, they are lucky that they have their brother(s) (and sister!) to help them through when we can't be there. I at least have hope in that!
Thanks for sharing your stories about your brother. I know it's probably hard and I hope you find peace in knowing that they touch my heart so much! Thank you!
We finally had success with bike riding when my oldest son was almost 9! There were confidence and sensory issues at play. I know exactly what you mean about feeling bad that other kids were basically laughing behind his back.
What worked for us was:
- lowering the seat
- building a little confidence with balance on a kick-scooter, and then having him kick instead of pedal his bike.
- emphasizing that we weren't practicing pedaling, we were practicing falling with control. That made falling into a success experience, not a failure.
You can read our whole success story here:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=14888&am p;KW=bike
This topic on our forum has a lot of other tips:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11978&am p;PN=8&TPN=4
I didn't read all of the posts.....The one training wheel helped Quinn for a while.The bike he has now is an 18". My dd's is a size smaller and now has no training wheels. It is purple with princesses all over it but I don't think Mason would be bothered by it, lol...especially just for practicing around the home. Thanks Fred, I will give that a go too!
I called dh this afternoon and was talking to him a bit about it...just telling him it was kind of bothering me overhearing those kids talking...he made a good point...that right now if a kid came up to Mason and said something like "How come you still have training wheels?" Whether it was in a teasing way or just curious, Mason wouldn't even respond to that. It's sad in a way but almost good in a way, but I don't think Mason would comprehend that he was being teased at this point. And he made the point that if kids are going to tease him, it's probably going to be about his speech or behavior before his bike.
So I guess in a way I feel better about the whole bike issue. But worse about the other things. Teasing is such a horrible thing! It's so hard to think that kids give up on things they love, just because of teasing...your story about your brother Kristy, brought tears to my eyes. I just want to protect him from everything!
But on that note, I will let you all know that I found a PT for him and he has the initial eval coming up on the 23rd. It will definitely be one of the things I discuss with her. Thanks guys.
Niki,
I am so with you on wanted to protect my son from everything.
I KNOW how absolutely awful kids can be to a child who is different. It's not theoretical for me. To me, for right or wrong, it's not IF he gets teased, its WHEN. I grew up watching my brother teased, tormented, bullied. It was awful and I got in quite a few fights myself over it, plus I had to have my guy friends threaten other kids quite a few times to get them to lay off my brother (effective strategy since I was 2 years older and my guy friends were bigger/older than the kids picking on Jim).
We moved the summer between 2nd & 3rd grade for Jim and between 4th and 5th grade for me. Moving to the new school was awful for Jim. The irony was, we moved so he would get better services. However at the old school, the kids were used to Jim because they knew him since kindergarten. In the new school not only was he "different" but he was "new." Bad, bad combination. Middle school was the absolute worst time. My parents got called many times because of Jim cutting PE. He used to cut PE and hide in the bathroom because he was afraid of getting tormeted in the locker room. I will say thought that in high school it got much, much better. That was when he made a few really good friends, who he remained very close with his entire life.
I never want C to go through what my brother went through.
Mason is 6 and now in first grade. He likes to ride his bike to school, but he still has training wheels. We have tried many times to help him to learn without the training wheels, but he just seems to have NO balance. He's clumsy, just walking.
When we walk I hear several kids say things, mostly to each other, about his bike still having training wheels. It doesn't even phase Mason that these kids are saying things, but it does bother me...these are those little things that start showing up, that people see and know something is "different" with Mason. I know I shouldn't let it bother me, but it does.
What can I do?? He just can't balance himself to ride a regular bike. I've seen those big 3 wheel bikes, but again isn't that just going to draw attention to him? I don't want to say no riding the bike to school just because other kids are commenting. I'm just worried teasing might start. So far nothing has been directed at him, just about him.
I guess I just know how hard it is to be a kid in school when your NT, I want to make it as easy as possible when there are disabilities involved.
Am I worrying too much about this?
Wow - the average age to take off training wheels is supposed to be age 6! So, he seems "within the normal range" for that skill at this point! That being said, parents are pushing their kids in general to do lots of things earlier and a lot are taking the training wheels off at age 5 or earlier. We had a neighbor boy who took them off about 3 months before he turned 4! That is NOT typical, though.
I didn't even HAVE a bike until I was 8! But again, it's parents pushing...
We worked on this a TON in PT with ds. He can ride without training wheels, but has a difficult time steering, but it's coming. I think it's GREAT that your son wants to ride his bike to school - what AWESOME exercise for him and a great way to start the day! Do you live in a warmer climate? If so, you can practice a lot at home.
What our PT did was to take ONE training wheel off at first. Ds practiced this way for about four months (once a week). The rest of the time we just rode with training wheels to get him comfortable on the bike (he didn't learn to pedal until he was past 4!). Then, she would take both training wheels off for short periods of time. Right before he turned 6, we took both off and he could ride half a block! He still has issues with steering, but it's coming.
Also, do lots of balance stuff - like balance beams and balancing on a ball - just to get his balance and coordination a little better. If gymnastics classes are available (adaptive ones) try those - those did wonders for my ds.
This won't help now, but in the summer there are bike camps throughout the country. Google bike camps and it should come up. I can't remember the names of them - but I was seriously considering them until ds just has done it by himself.
I would tell those kids that they are using very bad manners in making fun of someone for riding with training wheels at age 6. And say something about at least he's exercising and will end up being much healthier as a result!
Thanks snoopywoman. I should feel grateful because up until last summer he couldn't even petal a bike!
I guess I didn't realize that they say 6 yr old is the "norm." My dd is going to be 5 in November, and I remember a post awhile back with some ideas on how to lose the training wheels. So I figured I would give it a try with Mason and Jozlyn...but with Jozlyn I could tell she was ready, you could see that she was pretty much balancing herself without the wheels, anyway...so we took them off and she just went!
I see that Mason leans one way on his bike, it's always to the right...I wonder if I took off the right wheel and made him lean himself the other way, if that might help?
We don't live in a warm climate, in fact I live in Wisconsin and here we can pretty much expect snow anytime now, lol. So I know I shouldn't be so worried about it, but I just figured come spring he is going to want to ride again, and we won't have progressed any.
He doesn't get PT, but I'm supposed to be searching for a private PT right now...his neuro gave me an RX...I should get going on that and then bring that up with the PT.
Thanks again! I know I shouldn't be so worried about something so minor, but like I said, I'm just worried about him getting teased while I'm not there to defend him.
We live in Minnesota and expect snow any second as well!
If you have an unfinished basement (or know someone who does) you can take him over there to practice. Or if you even have a two or three car garage - take the cars out and let him practice a bit (obviously make sure there aren't breakable or unsafe things for him to run into). I would try to practice all winter. We took ds' bike to PT EVERY WEEK last winter. Was it a pain? You bet! My ds was just 2 at the time, so I had to somehow carry her AND the bike in (thankfully it was on the ground floor). Sometimes, I would have ds ride it in with his helmet on. That made it easier.
Absolutely get moving on the PT. And that is something PTs should definitely work on with your son. I always thought it would be me teaching my ds to ride - but that isn't how it happened. Now, I'm just thrilled he knows how!
A dev ped told a friend of mine that somewhere between 5 and 6 was the average age for taking off training wheels. Our NT neighbor girl still hadn't mastered it this past summer and she was 6 1/2 at the time. Her brother didn't take off his training wheels until he was almost 7 (but he has Asperger's).
I think taking off the right one would be a good idea. My ds leaned one way too (I don't remember which way) and that is what the PT did. She took off the wheel that was on the side he was leaning to - forcing him to correct himself.
For us, getting ds INTERESTED in riding was about 90% of the battle. Once he enjoyed it, then he WANTED to learn. We took our time and when he was getting scared, we'd push it just a little and then back off. He has a fear of failure (most kids do to some extent, but ds has it to a HUGE extent).