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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Ok, i am going to teach dd1 (Aspergers) to ride a bike.

13 replies

Marne · 28/09/2009 14:57

Has anyone managed to do this?

Dd1 has poor balance and low muscle tone in her legs, i'm not sure if she will manage to pedal and steer at the same time, is it possible?

Am i wasting my time even trying?

OP posts:

debs40 · 28/09/2009 15:01

How old is she?

DS has exactly the same problems. He is 6. I haven't tried for a while but need to get a new bike for him -the most manageable, lightweight one I can find!

I definitely think it's worth persevering and just trying it and encouraging your child every so often.

catinthehat2 · 28/09/2009 15:04

Can you start her with a balance bike to get the muscles & steering going? Then add pedalling later.

If you search for "balance bike" and I think you'll find a lot of threads.

busybeingmum · 28/09/2009 15:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

debs40 · 28/09/2009 15:38

Those bikes look great but I fear they would be better for a younger child/toddler. What do you do if you've got a 6/7 year old who can't ride?

busybeingmum · 28/09/2009 15:44

This reply has been deleted

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ChopsTheDuck · 28/09/2009 16:05

I don't know if likeabikes are such a great idea with sn. ds would have jsut ended up going too fast and crashed into everything. Plus if there are muscle tone problems, they do need to learn to pedal, it wont come automatically.

ds1 started off on stabilisers, took him a couple of years to learn to pedal and practise steering. He then suddenly got on his brother's tiny 14" bike and pedaled off! His balance is still terrible and he gets tried after 20mins but it still amazes me that he does it at all.

I think you need nice open spaces with nothing to run into and work on building up balance and strength with stabilisers first.

linglette · 28/09/2009 16:44

Marne,

See this thread for an alternative approach.]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=special_needs&threadid=820091-HUGE-Proud-mum-moment#16721996

rmls09 · 28/09/2009 18:06

Hi,
DS son (8) leant to ride a bike about 7 months ago. ( We had tried on several occasions previously but with no success) We just got a bog standard bike with stabilisers(and a nice sturdy helmet ). It took a while for him to master it and he still stops and starts a lot and wobbles around but he manages.
I'd almost given up hope at one point because he just couldn't push the pedals, nevermind manage to steer at the same time but we got there eventually!

Hope this makes you feel a bit better.

Original poster

Marne · 28/09/2009 19:39

Thank you all for your advice, she's almost 6 (but small), she has got her half brothers bike which is a little to big for her, i took her outside on it today after school and she tried to pedal but got very anxious and then got off , i have told her if she goes up and down the road once each day i will take her out for lunch on Sat (we were going out anyway but dd1 doesn't know this). So we will try again tomorrow, if she starts to enjoy it then we will buy her a bike for christmas.

OP posts:

troutpout · 28/09/2009 19:49

Haven't read thread so apologies if it's already been said...
Does she have a scooter ? A single wheeled one ? Ds (aspergers/dypraxia with poor muscle tone) learnt to balance on one of those first. Then we took the pedals off his bike and lowered the seat so that his feet were flat on the floor and he balanced on that just scooting along on it. Then we put the pedals back on and he just did it.

Original poster

Marne · 28/09/2009 20:20

She has a scooter and scoots very slowly on it but its one with 2 wheels on the back, she gets upset by the other children on our road who can go a lot faster.

OP posts:

Squiz · 30/09/2009 14:23

My son did learn when he was 6 1/2 but he very rarely rides his bike - mainly because he doesn't want to try it. He still can't steer so we wheel it round to a big field and he has a go there- but he just goes round in a big loop, or a straight line then either bangs into something or hops off! He won't steer away if he's coming towards the fence. I have to say I've kind of given up. If children enjoy bike riding fair enough, but it's not an essential skill and if they don't want to/can't do it then does it really matter! It does get harder though as they get bigger as the bikes are bigger and more sturdy.

catkinq · 30/09/2009 15:00

dd learnt to ride at 8 - she had stabalizers until then but got it into her head that she "had to learn". We just found somewhere off road and flat and dh ran along pushing the bike and let go at appropriate moments. She must have fallen off hundreds and hundreds of times, usually immediately, but was just really determined - we put lots of layers of thick clothes, gloves, helmet etc on her and she just perservered and got it in about 3 days (ie 3 weekends)(but it was 3 days of solidly practicing - we used to count the pedal strokes before she fell off to give her something to aim at) so it is possible if they are keen. (Still can't catch a ball though!)

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