riding a bike

[tracyM]

I know this isn't remotely baby related, but I'm hoping somebody has a bright idea!!

We got all the kids a bike for Christmas. Charlotte was desparate for one but we hadn't wanted to get her one becauae Callum is older and didn't have one. Callum has pretty bad dyspraxia so we knew it would be difficult for him.
We spent a fortune getting Callums modified so he could ride it without getting scared, losing his balance etc. He's fine with the balance thing - the mods are so good he can't fall off even if he tries, but just can't get his head round turning the pedals. He's starting to get really frustrated and upset when he sees Charlotte racing off down the street on hers. I don't want to give up on it, but it's awful seeing him upset. We've taken Charlottes stabilisers off today which has made him even more frustrated.

Any ideas on how we can get him to turn the pedals (his head just can't do the left / right thing), or a different sort of bike that we could get him that doesn't have pedals?? Or do we just give up on it ??

 

[Tiny Sue]

Perhaps put the bike on rollers for a bit ( I think you can hire them) and just drill his body with the pedal action until he realises that the pedals will push his feet as well as him pushing them? How old is he? Can you realistically drill him in the cycle motion while lying on his back? teach him to do cycle kicks, or maybe he could do it in the swimming pool? I know dyspraxia makes it difficult to do these things, I just wondered if any of those ideas could help him?

Are you in touch with the Dyspraxia Foundation?

http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/

Sue

 

[tracyM]

Thanks Sue

He's 8 and this is the first real challenge we haven't managed to find a solution for.

Good idea about the rollers - at least we won't have to be pushing him up and down the street trying different things. The wheels 'free wheel' at the moment so we could get them fixed so that the pedals still turn if the bike is pushed, to drill him. Thank you

He normally gets around coordination problems by talking to his arms and legs. He's managing the forward movement on the bike by talking to one foot, but then his other leg has a dicky fit, falls off the pedal, and by the time it's back on the pedal he's stopped and lost control of the first leg He gets off the bike, jumps and down in frustration, laughs and gets back on again. My mum has suggested we get the pedals changed so they both go forwards at the same time.

 

[lauramumof2]

would stirrups be any good so his feet are fastened into something.