Question about riding a bike

[Anonymous]

My DS is 7 (almost 8). He has motor planning issues (in addition to ADHD, anxiety, SPD). He insisted his training wheels be removed from his bike. However, he still cannot ride it without them. He refused a balance bike (and I know that would have helped him). There is a bike ride he wants to do this weekend. My DH won't allow him b/c he will need the training wheels put back on his bike AND my DH is afraid he will be ostracized b/c he can't ride a two wheeler yet. So, for those of you whose children have similar issues and are not riding a two wheeler yet, what would you do? I'm inclined to put the training wheels back on and let my DS ride.

[Anonymous]

Our DC has similar issues. The YMCA in Bethesda had a bike riding summer camp, which we signed him up for and that helped.

I also had a bookmark (and of course I can't find it now) on the gym teacher at Diener. He does one on one coaching for kids. That might be a good option. If you can't find him by Googling him, I would call the school.

(Good for him though that he wants the wheels off.)

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you. It looks as though Diener has a Fitness for Health professional as their gym teacher. I have heard good things about their program. I haven't looked into it for DS as of yet, but it might be the right time.

[Anonymous]

OP, I just double checked to see if this was an old thread and if I had been the one who posted it; your description of your child is exactly the same as mine, and we went through the exact same thing at the exact same time (DS was 7, almost eight). DS wanted to ride a 2wheeler so much but just couldn't, yet, and working with DH wasn't getting either of them anywhere except frustrated. What we did was to have a friend of DH's, someone DS likes, take DS for two consecutive afternoons, to work with him. DS was way more receptive to working hard with someone he liked but with whom he could not pull the "I'm tired/this is too hard" thing the way he does with a parent. It took one day to get him started, and the next day he was riding. It was really unbelievable. He now FLIES around the neighborhood on a 20" bike, cutting tight corners and sharp turns, falls, gets back on, and goes off again. It's shocking how quickly it happened once it happened. Good luck with the ride this weekend.

[Anonymous]

This guy:

http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/201794/28/Local-Coach-Helps-Autistic-Kids-Make-Major-Strides

I don't know if he's still works there.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it would work for the bike ride this weekend, but try taking the pedals off the bike instead of putting the training wheels back on. That effectively converts the bike into a balance bike because your son will learn to balance and can put his feet down to stop or push along, but he won't have to worry about getting whacked in the ankles with the pedals.

[Anonymous]

Our DS, now 9 and who has ADHD and anxiety, also had a hard time learning to ride a 2-wheeler. We signed him up for a weeklong program called "Lose the Training Wheels."

http://www.losethetrainingwheels.org/

The program was run through Arlington County but I believe they periodically work in other parts of the area. It worked like a charm. They had him up on 2 wheels by the end of the program and he hasn't looked back.

In Arlington, the program was offered through the Office of Therapeutic Recreation in the Parks Service and is designed for kids with physical or mental challenges of any kind.

The program was fantastic. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know if it would work for the bike ride this weekend, but try taking the pedals off the bike instead of putting the training wheels back on. That effectively converts the bike into a balance bike because your son will learn to balance and can put his feet down to stop or push along, but he won't have to worry about getting whacked in the ankles with the pedals.

OP here. My DS has a Trek Jet. I checked with the manufacturer. The pedals cannot be removed unless you remove the entire pedal assembly (including the chain). The Float was one where the pedals could be removed, but it's not made anymore. I'm actually checking CL to see if I can get a float fairly inexpensively (in addition to talking with the guy who helps kids learn to bike and swim).

[Anonymous]

We Used the gym teAcher from diener. Aaron Anderson [phone]. He is great. Got my don riding in 3 sessions.

[Anonymous]

OP, the Lab School is running a bike riding class for ages 6-12. It started on the 21st. I don't know if it's only for Lab students, but you could call the school and find out if the other options don't work out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our DS, now 9 and who has ADHD and anxiety, also had a hard time learning to ride a 2-wheeler. We signed him up for a weeklong program called "Lose the Training Wheels."

http://www.losethetrainingwheels.org/

The program was run through Arlington County but I believe they periodically work in other parts of the area. It worked like a charm. They had him up on 2 wheels by the end of the program and he hasn't looked back.

In Arlington, the program was offered through the Office of Therapeutic Recreation in the Parks Service and is designed for kids with physical or mental challenges of any kind.

The program was fantastic. Good luck!

I had to check the date to see if I was the author of this post! My 9 yo with ADHD also did the Lose the Wheels program. We did it through FFX Co Therapeutic Recreation Services and it was fabulous! He lost the training wheels but we used a handle on the back of the bike (which we purchased from them) for another couple of weeks and then he was good to go. The program was fabulous. The volunteers were so supportive and encouraging. I thought the trainer had an OT/PT background because she really could identify how his core strength was low and his motor planning/coordination challenges affected his confidence. But, she wasn't. She was just really experienced. I can't speak highly enough about the program.