Teaching Ds1 (8) severe ASD to ride.

[Staryeyed]

Now a big 8 year old boy we are desperate for him to learn to ride to expand his range of activities . He likes to try to ride but his bike is heavy. He learned to peddle years ago but has never been able to grasp balance or steering. For his latest bike, we attached stabilisers to but he is finding the bike quite heavy and much effort. I'm thinking a lightweight bike such as Isla bike might help. We can't stretch to a new one but hopefully can find one second hand for a reasonable amount. I'm nervous about spending so much and then finding we can't attach stabilisers or that it won't make a difference.
Has anyone else had trouble and found a solution? Any experience of Isla bike and SN/ stabilisers? I know people might suggest not adding stabilisers but he needs to learn to steer before we get to that stage.

Ds has just got the hang of riding a bike! We have had the stabilisers on and off for years, which in hindsight probably added to his anxiety.
One tip given to me if you are going to leave the stabilisers off is to ride on an open field instead of a lane or path. That way it wont matter if he doesn't steer in a straight line until he gets the hang of it properly. Ds has struggled for years (he is 7 in a few weeks) but can now ride properly as when i took him to the park there were no boundaries to concentrate on. Ds used to look at hedges when we were trying on the path as he was trying to avoid them but steer right into them as he was thinking about them so much!

Another lightweight bike you could try is a landrover.
Good luck with the steering!

ds2 is 10 & ahs just grasped it enough to ride on a field but certainly is not reliable enough at remembering to steer or look where he is going to go on a pavement.
He has CP as well as ASD so muscle tone & strength is a real problem.
We took him to several independent bike shops & as he is tall the really lightweight ones are the very expensive ones.
One shop owner took a shine to ds2 & once he sussed out what sort of bike would suit ds2 he kept an eye out for a really good quality second hand bike.
He also locked the gears & fitted some bigger pedals & foot grips & a really big comfy seat.

Personally, if he's not really grasped steering or balance I'd forget a two wheeler with stabilisers and look at saving for a special needs trike such as a Theraplay TMX or similar. Have a look on ebay under 'special needs tirke'

My DS2 had a theraplay trike (funded thro a charity) and then a Pashley Adult sized one (he's now 16 and 6 foot!) and he has loved them.. he never had the balance to be successful on a two wheeler but the trikes have worked well . He also has ASD..,.

Although younger when my boys learnt to cycle they found peddling difficult. They were too old for balance bikes but what dh did instead was to take the pedals off a normal bike so they could learn to balance independently of peddling. It was still not quick (I think we had the pedals off for about 6 months) but did help. I got lots of comments about how well they were cycling as most people did not notice the missing pedals. We also did go for Islabikes which although I know are very expensive has been worth it for us to get the boys cycling and enjoying it. We have already passed their bikes onto relatives so sorry can't help you with a secondhand one.

My ds is 6 and can't ride with stabilisers but loves his tricycle. He started using one in school and I found one on ebay for the bargain price of £6.00. I don't think he will ever master a two wheel bike but he has a lot of fun on his trike and his 8 year old sister and her friends are always fighting over having a turn!!

Take the peddles off and make sure the seat is low enough so his feet comfortably reach the ground. This way he can master balance and steering.