Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Help for BIKE Riding

We have two balance bikes on the way to us, so I'll need to report back once we have them and can try them out. You asked in the other thread about sizing, HappilyMom - they go all the way up to adult-sized (look at the "Glide Bike" brand).

We haven't solved this yet for DS10. I've heard great things about the no-pedals approach, and I'm hoping he gets motivated this summer to try something, one way or another, but we aren't pushing him. He gets very emotional about it and doesn't want anyone to see him trying. We must be perfect at everything the first time, as you know.

My DS wasn't able to really ride his bike until last summer (he was 8)... he's still quite clumsy on it, but he can ride it well enough. He doesn't really have any neighborhood friends to ride with though...

We purchased an old motor scooter for our DS. It scares me more than him.

Not 2e here either but can second (third?) the no-pedal thing too. With DS we did it the old fashioned way, running behind pushing, which I do not recommend! He learned at about 7 I think. With DD we found a better plan, which was to use the bike with training wheels for a few weeks to practice pedaling, then take the pedals off and use it as a balance bike for a few weeks, then put the pedals back on again, and voila! Worked a treat and DD was only 4. FWIW I think it helps to practice pedaling and balancing on the same bike then put the two together ...

Mine is 2E and the no pedals worked for her. She resisted for quite some time but we took the pedals off last fall on her 14" bike and told her to just use her feet (she was 48" tall then). It was May when she figured out balancing and we put the pedals back on. After a few wobbly weeks she figured it out and just moved up to a 16" bike. A 20" would be more appropriate and she can ride it but she's more comfortable on the smaller bikes. She's wobbly and not as confident as I expected after two months but doing great for a child with motor control issues! She just turned 7 Saturday, BTW.

My kid learned to ride a bike (without training wheels) last summer. We used the Balance Buddy, like HowlerKarma. We practiced in a school parking lot and on some random cul-de-sacs. I think it took 3 days or 4 hours. We also got knee pads, elbow pads etc (obviously, a helmet, too) -- he was scared about getting hurt. We also used a very smallish bike -- so he could just stop easily, if he needed to.

I'm in a similar boat with my ds7.5 / 2e too with bike riding. He was born with dyspraxia and a host of gross/fine motor issues. He's real pipsqueak though so he's still riding the small bike with training wheels, which I plan to give to my niece who's 3.5 yrs old and not 2e asap.

My ds7.5 told me today that he doesn't want try things because he feels failing. Great. Thanks for the confirmation, but you still have to do therapy buddy, sorry.

Riding a bike and swimming are fantastic exercises to use both sides of the brain and body evenly. Great bilateral work, not to mention the balance and coordination needed.

I think you meant "fears" failing? Not wanting to try something that he knows he will have a tough time with has been an ongoing challenge for my dyspraxic ds13. It took me quite a few years to realize he actually had a good intuition about the kinds of tasks which would be extroadinarily challenging for him compared to my expectations of neurotypical kids. Over time we've worked out a combination that helps us through the fear of failure preventing a start - I listen and ask ds questions to talk him through all the possible things that might happen if he tries and it doesn't work, as well as talking him through the basics of how to do whatever it is - and I'm talking really basic here. So that's ds' role in the system - he talks his fears over with me and that sometimes lessens them, and I help him mentally prepare by talking through how I, as a nt person, would approach and accomplish a task. A lot of the time he will give me feedback about some little tiny something that just doesn't work for him. One example is that he can't spit - that came up as a reason for not wanting to try something else that was so far-flung from spitting at first glance I never would have guessed he was thinking about it. The second part of this combo is my end of the deal - I need to remember that some very simple things involving coordination of body movements are not only not second nature for kids with dyspraxia, they can be very very difficult and take much more repetition than for a nt child to learn, and some movements might never become "automatic".

OTOH, some things that are difficult "now" may become easier to learn later on as he matures - we've seen this over and over again from crawling to walking to thing shoes to bike riding - he's learned how to do all of those things, they just took longer than for a nt child and they happened later in years than for a nt child. When we've run into things that were difficult like learning to ride a bike etc, the thing that worked for our ds was to back off completely and focus on other things - that gave him a chance to learn later when he was more ready to learn the skill, so when he tried again, mastering the skill came quicker. DS didn't learn how to ride a bike until later than the neighbor kids, so we did other things with him. Eventually there came a day when he asked to try and after quite a few failed attempts he got it, and today mountain biking is one of his favorite sports - so although he started later than the neighborhood kids it proved to be the sport that he held onto into his teens and he's now actually better at it than many kids.

So that's my 2 cents - don't push, find something else to work on if it's a struggle. I'm also guessing that it's going to be much easier to learn to ride after vision therapy!

Best wishes,

polarbear

Thanks for all the ideas and experience!! I especially appreciate the 2e experience because it is a different set of issues on top of what others have to address.

We are so excited to have our new vehicle arrive here today! Polar like you suggested it is sort of a break from the bike idea for a bit but still fulfilling his need to "get out there".

He has already named the new vehicle: "The Kid Zord Power Rover" and we have a little theme-song that he has been singing with me at home. We just started OT this week and finished our second session. He LOVES his therapy place and therapist. He works really hard for her and begs to stay bit longer when his hour is up. However, back at home after therapy his resiliency is used up and we are dealing with meltdown mania. So working on a new skill at home too will not be possible right now. We are working more on soothing activities and heavy work/organizing in between times. I'm hoping being able to ride his Kid Zord Power Rover is going to help with that.