Bike Riding (again) .. or failure to do so

[Stephanie]

I am having a busy day posting on here today - I don't visit very often but when I do, I go for it

 

Bike riding - my son still can't do it and he's 7. They are having a cycling course at school today and he is reluctantly sitting out as he still has stabilisers on his bike. Can I just add that other NT kids in his class can't ride one yet either so I might be over-reacting.

 

He just has never seemed to be that bothered with riding his bike (until now, when he realises most kids in his class can ride one). He doesn't get "why" he's riding it, and when we suggest he goes out on it around the block etc, he sees it as a chore.

 

I have put his inability to ride a bike down to the fact that he walks on his toes, and his hamstrings are tight, that his co-ordination is poor and his balance is not great.

 

I didn't learn to ride one until I was 7 or so, but I was more committed to learning than he is. (He has learned to swim this year which I'm dead chuffed about!)

 

Has anyone got any tips ......

 

Does anyone have a child who walks on his toes that can pedal a bike easily .....

 

Are there any specific bikes that are more suitable to kids with difficulties ....

 

My 3 year old (NT) is not great at pedalling either and he also walks slightly on his toes ... hence why I was wondering if it was relative to toe walking.

 

 

Thanks,

[oxgirl]

Hi Stephanie,

My lad is 14 and can't ride a bike and can't swim yet either, so I think your lad is doing very well. To be motivated to want to learn because all the other kids can ride is also a very good sign. My lad has absolutely no interest in wanting to learn, he just can't see the point and knowing that all the other kids can do it and he can't is of no consequence to him. If your lad is motivated by his peers then it should spur him on quickly. For my lad, it's a balance and coordination problem as well as motivation. Even if he really, really wanted to learn to ride a bike he would find it very difficult, but at least he might persevere, which he just refuses to at the moment, so we get nowhere.

Good luck with it.

 

~ Mel ~

Edited July 3, 2008 by oxgirl

[Flora]

Bill was 11 before he learned to ride a bike (he also toe walked and couldn't pedal when he was younger).

 

Flora

[Thompsons]

Levi is also 7 and he still has stabilisers. He hasn't realised that kids his age are riding bikes without them yet.. I'm worried that he'll start to feel embarrassed, but he just can't seem to do it without them

 

I'm not sure about the link to toe walking.. Levi did walk on his toes when he first started walking and he does run on his toes, but apart from that his walking is normal.

 

I wouldn't worry too much. Let him do things in his own time

Edited July 3, 2008 by Thompsons

[jo4themo]

Hi Stephanie

N is 9 (almost 10) and she cannot ride a bike. In fact, she only learnt how to peddle a trike last year. She tried to learn when she was 3 but never mastered it and then got too big for a trike and she wouldn't go on a bike (even with stabilisers on). Her school has these big trikes that are sturdy and do not tip over easily so they are perfect for children with balance and co-ordination probs (like N). I know there are specialist companies that make these trikes (you can also get a trike that attaches onto an adults bike) as we did look into getting N one but our garden in tiny as is our shed so we would have no where to store it, but i cannot remember any names offhand.

[sandyn]

Hi R has never been able to ride a bike (pedalling was always a problem) and has never wanted to despite all our encouragement. We gave up worrying about it, then about 3 months ago he got on our broken exercise bike. He lowered the seat and started pedalling. I could have cried at the smile on his face.

 

He asked if he could have a bike, so we bought him a cheap one. unfortunately as he is so tall it had to be a 24inch - so no stabilisers - We are holding on the saddle at the moment as his balance isn't to good, but the main thing is that he is wants to learn, which he has never done before.

 

He will do it in his own time.

[madme]

Our son was 8 before he could ride a bike properly. We had tried. His aunt had tried. He had a bike from very early on. We tried with and without stabilsers. He had a trike. He had a dx of Aspergers and dyspraxia. We eventually paid for specialist lessons with a company locally who dealt with Severe SEN. He learmed how to ride within a few lessons. I sat and watched him and cried. They started with a scooter and got his balance right. Then a bike without pedals. Then a bike with pedals. It worked. Now we are still working on road sense!!

I now feel that when the time is right it will happen if it can. Had we tried at 6 with my son it would not have worked.

[bikemad]

My lad is almost 9 n can barely ride a bike-it is after a fashion n for all of 20seconds then he drops the bike.

[sesley]

we have made great and slow progress over the last 2 months, he still needs to learn to use his breaks, and be in full control of the bike and push himself off, the push himself bit is taking a bit of time ,but he is trying to do it more ,he gets angry with it when he can't cycle up hills he is not strong enough, he went free wheeling down a track today and was panicking until he stopped , if he had kept going the momentum of the down hill would have got him a long way up the hill he was approaching so he moaned and complained pushing his bike up it,other wise things are now good enough for a family bike ride in the woods

[harmony]

My AS dd age 12 can't ride yet. Took cycling test along with her classmates last year, she insisted on doing it although I knew she would fail (she did) The school made her take it again 6 weeks later, as if that was going to make any difference, so she failed again. My NT son can't ride either he's 9. Son no 2 peddals away on his trike (he's 3) He also has AS traits, has to put everythig in lines, obsessed with feeling tickets in clothes, counts vans (white) whenever we are out, and now has started telling me his times tables backwards (I can't keep up with him)

 

Harmony x