Riding a bike and teaching your Autistic child

Teaching a child to ride a bike, to me is one of those beautiful things of being a parent. It can be so rewarding, or devistating (in my case up till yesterday) then my son FINALY rode his bike. now it is a wonderful thing.

The hard thing about

riding a bike for a child is the balance. My son being Autistic has none (nor does his mother) So in finding the right bike for him was very hard. We shopped about for many months and even bought him a cheap one from k-mart one year which was not a good. I finally found a place in Guilford here in Perth and I was looking for a bike for me for phsyio and out of curiosity I asked the man about a bike for my son. He smiled at me and then showed me the bike. He then told me about his step son and that he taught him to ride a bike and a few other things as well. So my baby got a bike and so did I.

SO a bike for a Autistic child needs to be the same sorta height as the child would normally need so in my case a 20" bike. the seat MUST be low as many autistic kids have no balance and they need training wheels. (you can go for a trike if you want but at $700 for one compaired to $189 is a huge difference) a great helmet and protective gear and a bike for yourself is a must. I have found with my son I can not explain to him what to do I HAVE to show him (wonderful for a person who can not ride a bike to save her life).

So teaching your child is the fun part. If they can understand simple instructions you have a start. A great safe place to practice is wonderful. We have a day care center over from us and no one there on weekends so the carpark is great and flat. Showing my son the simples of riding was fun until the turning part. LOL. He didnt fall off which was good. But he did learn that if he over leans the bike does fall. Also cause the bike is so low he can stand up really easily. He has now learnt the simple action of turning slowly and the movement of the bike.

The hardest part in teaching him about the bike is his leg movement. Naturaly he wants to bend his legs inwards and bang them together (he runs the same) so trying to get the legs to move in a straight up and down movement was a challenge but we got it in the end. Our other challenge is he keeps looking at the wheels (he does this while we are int he car too, and it is a character traite) so we do have to keep reminding him to look forwards. But after time he will get it.

So a whole day yesterday riding both my husband and me with our son showed him how to pedel and stop (he has HUGE cuts on the backs of his legs from stopping) He now is wonderful at riding (with training wheels)

So who ever says that your Autistic child can not be normal (I am refering to the mild case, PDD-NOS, Aspergers etc) they are lying. you can teach them to do this. And they have fun too. Your child may be different than others but you can teach them normal child things.

Riding a bike a very good way as a family to keep fit, specially when you have special needs people in the family. it is rewarding knowing that you have taught your child something and something fun. you burn a lot of fat and energy riding and it is a great way to keep fit. it uses a lot less petrol to get places (I am getting a electric motor for my trike) It is also great to go on family picincs too.

So have fun riding your bike and teaching your child to ride their bike

Rukia