Bike Riding / Driving

[Stephanie]

Ok just a quickie, my 5 year old just started being able to pedal a bike ... he is tall so he is on a bigger bike with stabilisers and goes out around the block on it every now and again. I don't think he really enjoys it because he can't see the point (he goes around the block and comes home - no destination etc.) His steering is getting better.

 

We are off to Centerparcs next week to try and encourage him to use it more and give him some focus on pedalling to destinations.

 

The kids at school are doing a golden boot challenge and are going in on their bikes, without stabilisers. I think my son realised and now wants to know if he will be able to ride a bike without stabilisers soon. He certainly isn't ready yet.

 

It made me ponder ... do most HF ASD kids learn to ride bikes, and at what kind of age, can they cope with the whole balance thing. Also can people with ASD drive in later life ... is it possible? is it legal?? (he would pass the highway code test now, it's his favourite book!!!!)

 

I know my son is only 5 and I am worrying way too early.

[Suze]

Hi stephanie, my son could ride a bike at 4 and a motorbike at 5....he,s always been really good in that way, although things like clapping and catching a ball he still can,t do at 10.I think every kid is different.As far as driving I would image AS people make excellent drivers , particularly as they will follow the highway code better than anyone and not exceed the speed limit.

[Paula]

My as son is twelve and cant even tie his shoe laces but he can ride a bike without stabalizers.

 

He managed this at around the age of 6.He also can cope with the gear changes and stearing.

 

He does have difficulty with applying pressure to go up his via his legs ie peddling harder and tends to get of and push.

 

 

And yes i know many AS people who hold driving licences and are bloomeing good carefull dirvers.

 

remeber each child is different and they all get there in there own time.

[curra]

My son can't ride a bike and he's 12.When he was a toddler he never pedalled. He has tried many times to ride a bike without stabilisers but he loses balance. When it got too frustrating for him he didn't try anymore. He can't tie his shoe laces or button his shirt, but he makes excellent drawings with details. It 's a complete mystery. I think that he'll be a good driver because he already knows the traffic regulations and a lot about cars.

 

Curra

[Flora]

Hi,

 

My youngest son with ASD could ride a bike at 4, but William (12 yo AS) only learned to ride a bike when he was 11 and that was after a course of vision training exercises to help his balance, before that he couldn't even coordinate himself to push the pedals; he also has dyspraxia, many kids with AS have dyspraxia or problems with coordination.

 

Lauren

[mel]

My son is nearly 6, he wanted to try without his stabilisers but has no sense of balance so he went round the street pushing the bike. stabilisers went back on and i will try again in a few years i think.

[darky]

neither of my asd kids can ride bikes, one is 7 can master peddling but not peddling and steering, or even peddling and looking where she is going.

my 9yr old cannot ride a bike has no interest so probably never will. we have tried and tried but he cant do it. but to give them a break both of them have motor skills below the first centile, so i dont expect them to be able to really.

[k9ruby]

I have severe dyspraxia and learnt how to ride without stablelisers at about 10.

 

I am very unsure whether i would be able to drive...

 

*legoland- caused mini gridlocks

 

*wicksteed park- got confused with breaks and accerlarator, and rammed straight into somone else.

 

If i did, the first 3 things i would do would be put in a GPRS sat nav system ,laser sso i dont get too lost, sensors all round it so i dont crash into anything, and i would get a red stop button to be the breaks!

[k9ruby]

I have severe dyspraxia and learnt how to ride without stablelisers at about 10.

 

I am very unsure whether i would be able to drive...

 

*legoland- caused mini gridlocks

 

*wicksteed park- got confused with breaks and accerlarator, and rammed straight into somone else.

 

If i did, the first 3 things i would do would be put in a GPRS sat nav system ,laser sso i dont get too lost, sensors all round it so i dont crash into anything, and i would get a red stop button to be the breaks!

[Lisajb]

Hmm, driving, sore point right now!

 

Applied for Chris's licence back at end January, heard nothing, phoned DVLA, they needed medical report (well, we expected that!), phoned Dr, oh yes he'd had a letter, made appointment, go to Dr's - he'd lost the letter!

 

Arranged for him to phone Chris next night, Chris being in school all day and at work (kitchen assistant in a nursing home, loves it) no phone call. Phone surgery, get daft receptionist who didn't seem to know her bum from her elbow! "I'll get Dr to phone now" "No thats no good, Chris told Dr he was at work at this time" "Oh I'll get him to phone tomorrow then" "No thats no good, Chris told the Dr he's at school tomorrow WHICH IS WHY WE WANTED HIM TO PHONE AT THE TIME ARRANGED!" "Oh I dunno what to do then!" Grrr! I lose it with the receptionist and get a telling off from the Dr.

 

Eventually phone call made. What questions does Chris get asked? How does his condition affect him, etc etc? Oh no - the only thing they wanted to know was was he on any medications!!!

 

Few more phone calls back and forth. No licence has been issued, we haven't heard from your GP (another row with receptionist who refuses to tell us anything. Eventually they give way and tell Chris that Dr wrote to DVLA a month ago. Stuck in the middle now between DVLA and GP!

 

Week later another phone call to DVLA "Oh yes we've received it but we need to scan it rhubarb rhubarb rhubarb..."

 

Still no licence

 

You get the picture - we're stuck in the middle and getting nowhere! If I'd known it would take this long we would have applied six months ago!

 

Going to phone again Tuesday and see what c**p they come out with this time. If anyone can think of a way to get through the DVLA's thick heads please let me know!

 

Thanks for listening to me rant!

 

Lisa

[Canopus]

I think most people with AS make bad drivers. Theoretically they follow the highway code and rarely speed, but they are often clumsy and unco-ordinated. Tasks that require taking in lots of information and doing several things at once or in a short space of time such as overtaking or roundabouts are what drivers with AS find most difficult. I passed my test first time with only 4 minor errors but it certainly doesn't imply I am a good driver. I have been driving for more than 10 years and still can't master the art of negotiating larger multilane roundabouts. Every large roundabout is unique and has its own ideosyncracies. I drive a classic BMW powered by a 6 cylinder engine. BMW stands for Bad Man's Wheels.

[oracle]

One of mine can not ride a bike but insists that he he can. The other has been riding one since he was 2 without stabilizers really bucking the trend. But that's Matthew for you.

 

Driving is another issue altogether and a really HUGE one which could be even bigger by the time most of our kids can legally take the plunge. The DVLA are beginning to view ASD as a personality disorder and it really will go on what the medics say the score is. The big issue is, from where I am standing, is if you have had DLA and behaviour was ever included as an issue then it will probably be seen as a no no where driving is concerned. I can only see this creating major sh** for parents when our kids are adult and may well be told the reasons why they can not drive a car It's not at this stage yet but it's getting there. There is talk that people with AS will have to sit an advanced test. It will not be an actual driving test because that's not the main issue. It's more of an aptitude test to see how they will react in certain situations. That in itself is enough for many to fall at the first hurdle.

 

Terry's sister is saving money for Matthew in an account until he is 18 and is constantly telling Matthew that he will be able to buy a car when he is 18. I have created major sh** myself by asking for this to stop - not the money - but the reference to the car. Because the last thing I want is for Matthew to insist on buying a car he will never be allowed to drive

 

Oracle

[Suze]

Just wanted to put my two penny worth in,my son may be an exceptition .....I don,t know........but he races bikes and is really good, no problem judging when to brake over takes no problem , he has lots of first places.He also goes cycling with his grandad and this helps him understand roads etc, this has really helped him in this area. I think this may be one of the things my son is naturallly good at, as he could reverse park a tractor and trailer when he was 8.(it was a smallish one ).

[Canopus]

A road safety officer told me that the law should be changed so that provisional driving licences are only issued after completing a basic road safety exam. This will normally take place for 10 or 11 year olds and carried out either at school or by local councils. It will comprise of a theory test about the highway code and an on-road practical test on a bike. A certificate will be awarded that has to be sent to the DVLA on applying for a provisional driving licence. If kids don't pass the basic road safety exam then they won't be allowed to drive.

 

I asked the road safety officer why the bike test should be compulsory and whether disabled kids should be exempted from it. After all there are disabled drivers. His reply was that if someone is incapable of handling a pedal bike to a sufficiently safe standard on a public highway then they shouldn't be allowed to drive a powered vehicle. He told me that every now and then he has encountered a clumsy kid in Y6 that can't ride a bike and considers them too unco-ordinated to drive a car safely and shouldn't even think about driving until they improve their cycling skills.

 

What do you think of this?

[bid]

Well, I couldn't master driving a manual at all...too much multi-tasking!

 

But I passed in an automatic, and I find that easy-peasy to drive because I can concentrate on the traffic, not what I should be doing with both feet and my hands all at the same time!!

 

Bid

 

Mind you, you'll have to ask other people what my driving is really like!

[Mother in Need]

My AS son of 12 still cannot ride a bike, and finds all things to do with balance difficult. Though he can do shoe laces he doesn't do them very well and I still end up re-doing them.

At this, moment in time I cannot foresee him ever be able to drive. His map-reading skills are limited (despite having worked on that loads), he cannot cope with any changes to his routine so if he is planning to go to so and so at so and so, and then there are roadworks, or there's been an accident, he would not be flexible enough to cope with it. He cannot foresee what ther people might be planning/about to be doing and hnece not calculate (or instantly react) how that would affect him on the road; ie if a car in front starts swerving, I would keep a good distance from thm; if a car ahead slows down for no obviuos reason, I am prepared to slam on my breaks; he would just barge on as he could not see things from other's points of view. Split-second reaction? Into meltdown more like, or freezing but certainly not that fast reaction required. And then ofcourse there is having to man all the controls at the ssme time, be aware of other road users and confusing roundabouts and one-way-systems.

I dought he'll ever drive.

[jb1964]

Hi, My daughters only 12 but she can't ride a bike without stabilisers. She's really tried and tried and become so frustrated - she now says she doesn't want to learn anyway - which I know is just her way of coping with it. She struggles in school with the sewing machine (the pedal) I know her teacher told her to stop being like a racing driver which she got a bit upset about - I didn't know whether to mention it to the school but thought maybe she'll get better at it.

 

Can't imagine her driving at car either.

Jb

[DaisyFulkirk]

I rode a bike relatively well for four or five years, before my joint problems kicked in. I failed the 'cycling proficiency' test aged 10 - couldn't extend an arm to indicate a turn on a bike without falling over - but I was something of a horsewoman when I was younger and I managed OK with that. I'm not well coordinated - can't catch a ball and have seriously bad balance - and I don't walk much at all now. I started learning to drive in February last year, aged 19, and passed my driving test first time with 3 'minors' on the 28th of June. Because of my joint problems I drive an automatic car adapted with hand controls, which means that I have a lever in my right hand that I push to brake and pull towards me to accelerate, and a spinner ball clamped on the steering wheel so I can control all the steering with my left hand. I drive a lot, almost always alone in the car (other people can be a big distraction for me) and have done LOTS of motorway driving - this Easter, for instance, I covered nearly 1500 miles on the M1, M6 and M62 between Leeds, London and Manchester due to various family, music work and appointment commitments.

 

I think my autism makes me a better driver than a lot of people. I can focus on my driving to the exclusion of everything else, I notice changes in the road and movements of other drivers and pedestrians very quickly, I will never ever ever break the laws of the road, and - like the other poster's child - I learnt my Highway Code very thoroughly very early in my life! Using hand controls might have an extra benefit for me as I think it is probably impossible to hit brake instead of accelerator with that setup. There's no limit to who's allowed to use hand controls and all driving school automatic cars have them fitted as standard - it costs a few hundred pounds to get them put into your car but that's not very much relative to how much a car costs.

 

It took me a long time to get the hang of reverse parking, but with a patient driving teacher and lots and lots of concentration I'm quite good at it now. My car does windscreen wipers automatically when it rains and puts the headlights on automatically when it gets too dark, so that means I don't have to worry about judging when it is 'raining enough' or 'dark enough' to switch things on. That's a standard option on a lot of new cars now and it's really useful - my dad likes it too and he usually drives a big people-mover with no fancy bits at all.

 

I do get stressed if I get into a 'situation' with other drivers but sticking to the rules of the road avoids that, mostly, and I have developed a kind of 'apologetic look' for if I think I have made a mistake.

 

Everyone's different and I think the best way to judge if someone will be OK driving or not is to have some lessons somewhere quiet and safe with a friendly instructor and just see how it goes.

 

Lisa - ring the DVLA and persuade someone to put you through to the Medical Clerk. They will sort it out really quickly and they were really nice to me - I had a lot of trouble with my forms too.

[Canopus]

His map-reading skills are limited (despite having worked on that loads),

 

My dad and younger brother have difficulty in using road maps but they are NT. I could use road maps when I was only 3 year old. Does your son have difficulty with geography?

[Flora]

Daisy. I like your description of how you drive. I've often wondered whether my boys will drive. I don't think William will, but of course we must never say never. But Luke is so interested in driving. Last summer we hired a motor boat for the day and Luke had a go at piloting. Of all the kids there (we had 5 kids with us) he was the only one that could do it. He seemed to switch off everything else and just concentrated so hard on driving the boat that we just left him to it for about an hour. I think from the description of your driving that's exactly how Luke will do it. After the boat trip he started to take an interest in driving. He knows all the foot pedals and understands the concept of going up and down the gears. He's also got an excellent sense of direction. I wondered if maybe this was all superficial knowledge and maybe when it came to driving a car he wouldn't be able to do it, but after reading your post I actually believe that he will.

 

You are a great inspiration.

 

Lauren

[Mother in Need]

My dad and younger brother have difficulty in using road maps but they are NT. I could use road maps when I was only 3 year old. Does your son have difficulty with geography?

Canopus, he is dyslexic as well, and doesn't know his left from his right (barely his up from down...). Once he knows a place well, he can manage fine. But when in buildings he gets less confused about which way to go then I do. Confused yet? I am.

[Lisajb]

Hi Daisy

 

Thank you for that - it was helpful to read it.

 

Chris is going to phone again on Tuesday - I will tell him to ask for the medical clerk

 

Best wishes

Lisa