My 11 year old can't tie his shoes. We've tried, he gets very frustrated and just doesn't have the patience or motivation to learn. When we bought lace up shoes for back to school this past Sept and he couldn't master the skill, we invested in locklaces and I figure we'll try again this summer.
I agree it is a life skill but every kid will get it when s/he is ready. Thank god for velco and locklaces.

We just used velcro sneakers until he was old enough to master it. Too many other things to worry about.

Shoe Train also offers classes.

Anonymous wrote:This is what worked for us: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/shoe-tying-trick-_n_5678597.html

OMG!!! Thank you for posting this!

Anonymous wrote:This is what worked for us: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/14/shoe-tying-trick-_n_5678597.html

This was awesome! DS loves to watch this and he is successful now, thanks for sharing!!!

Anonymous wrote:Does he work with an OT on this? My kid never would have figured it out if it weren't for our great OT.

Patience and practice. Break down the verbal steps to the very basics.

You can try Hickies: http://www.hickies.com

But I think it's important for kids to learn how to tie laces. It's a basic skill.

Wow! I like these! Nordstorm appears to be out, but they will begin selling on the website in 2 weeks per their "chat" response.

For those with NT kids, the same OT who taught my SN sons taught my daughter in 15 minutes. Best money ever spent.

For the SN kids, I think the OT is vital as there are different approaches and tricks depending on where the struggle is. My oldest son has a significant finger weakness and could follow the steps but not get the laces tight enough. My youngest has motor planning issues and needed to learn step by step over a long time. He also literally needs someone to move his hands through the motor sequence.