Cycling and Dyspraxia
debeli
Posts: 583
Our middle child (now 18) has lived with Dyspraxia and faced frustration and difficulty with many of the tasks that fall simply to others.
He is also a keen cyclist.
There will be cycling parents out there who want to encourage their own children and may feel daunted by the D-word if it is present. This post is intended to offer some hints.
Of course Dyspraxia takes almost as many forms as there are people with it, so this will not be a universal solution. Our boy was not diagnosed until he was about eight, so the initial steps were taken with the awareness that he was having difficulty, but without a tag to put on that difficulty. It all made much more sense after the diagnosis.
First thing: Tag-along trailers are quite superb. It was the frequent use of one of these that allowed him to 'believe' in balance and to get the feeling of riding and cornering. Riding solo went from an impossibility to a certainty within a few weeks after sitting him on a tag-along.
Next thing: Feet did not stay on pedals, so from the age of nine he was in tiny clipless shoes. Suddenly things started to get much easier in many, many ways. Energy did not have to be expended thinking about where the feet were. He mastered clipping in and out on a Turbo, then we set off and he was away. Worth considering.
Next: Patience. When tired, he'd slouch or drop his body to one side or let his hands move into silly or dangerous positions. I rode behind him and just kept up a mantra about hands, shoulders and all sorts of other malarkey. At the time it seemed to be having no effect, but it is worth persisting as the message gets home in the end and when it does it is a joy.
Other stuff: For his first year or two on drops (on a road bike) his bidon was on a cage mounted on the handlebar. Reaching down into the frame was extremely unsteady and unsettling, so the handlebars made sense. A Camelbak is also a good idea.
Now he's in his late teens, learning to drive and still a very keen cyclist. He's raced a little (and may go back to it) and rides with elegance and purpose. He can destroy me on any climb, although is less keen on descents. It would have been so easy to write the whole thing off and decide that cycling wasn't his thing.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone in the position we were in all those years ago.
He is also a keen cyclist.
There will be cycling parents out there who want to encourage their own children and may feel daunted by the D-word if it is present. This post is intended to offer some hints.
Of course Dyspraxia takes almost as many forms as there are people with it, so this will not be a universal solution. Our boy was not diagnosed until he was about eight, so the initial steps were taken with the awareness that he was having difficulty, but without a tag to put on that difficulty. It all made much more sense after the diagnosis.
First thing: Tag-along trailers are quite superb. It was the frequent use of one of these that allowed him to 'believe' in balance and to get the feeling of riding and cornering. Riding solo went from an impossibility to a certainty within a few weeks after sitting him on a tag-along.
Next thing: Feet did not stay on pedals, so from the age of nine he was in tiny clipless shoes. Suddenly things started to get much easier in many, many ways. Energy did not have to be expended thinking about where the feet were. He mastered clipping in and out on a Turbo, then we set off and he was away. Worth considering.
Next: Patience. When tired, he'd slouch or drop his body to one side or let his hands move into silly or dangerous positions. I rode behind him and just kept up a mantra about hands, shoulders and all sorts of other malarkey. At the time it seemed to be having no effect, but it is worth persisting as the message gets home in the end and when it does it is a joy.
Other stuff: For his first year or two on drops (on a road bike) his bidon was on a cage mounted on the handlebar. Reaching down into the frame was extremely unsteady and unsettling, so the handlebars made sense. A Camelbak is also a good idea.
Now he's in his late teens, learning to drive and still a very keen cyclist. He's raced a little (and may go back to it) and rides with elegance and purpose. He can destroy me on any climb, although is less keen on descents. It would have been so easy to write the whole thing off and decide that cycling wasn't his thing.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone in the position we were in all those years ago.
0
Comments
-
Congratulations on finding a way to get your lad riding. We have had a number of kids learn to ride in spite of obvious co-ordination problems (which mayor may not have been dyspraxia related). OUr greatest success was teaching a 14 year old with pretty severe dyspraxia to ride over a period of 4 Saturdays for 2 hrs each, so it is possible.Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/0 -
Love your work.
Interestingly, there's some kids who manage better on a bike than standard running, or walking. As you say, it varies from individual to individual. But I know of an organisation that has a fleet of bikes - including fixed - as aids. The fixed one is an interesting one... as it's the rhythm and consistency that seems to work.Commute - MASI Souville3 | Road/CX - MASI Speciale CX | Family - 80s ugly | Utility - Cargobike0 -
baudman wrote:Love your work.
Interestingly, there's some kids who manage better on a bike than standard running, or walking. As you say, it varies from individual to individual. But I know of an organisation that has a fleet of bikes - including fixed - as aids. The fixed one is an interesting one... as it's the rhythm and consistency that seems to work.
The son I mentioned in the OP is now home from Uni for a week or two.
This morning we went out, he on fixed and I with gears. It was his first ride on fixed and he just sailed through it. No work at all, just bimbling along country lanes and up and down small hills.
He was super-keen to try fixed and we both got home grinning like idiots. He was 'launched' a couple of times when he forgot he had to keep pedalling, but on the whole he was turbine-smooth and loving it. 0 -
Debeli wrote:
The son I mentioned in the OP is now home from Uni for a week or two.baudman wrote:Love your work.
Interestingly, there's some kids who manage better on a bike than standard running, or walking. As you say, it varies from individual to individual. But I know of an organisation that has a fleet of bikes - including fixed - as aids. The fixed one is an interesting one... as it's the rhythm and consistency that seems to work.
This morning we went out, he on fixed and I with gears. It was his first ride on fixed and he just sailed through it. No work at all, just bimbling along country lanes and up and down small hills.
He was super-keen to try fixed and we both got home grinning like idiots. He was 'launched' a couple of times when he forgot he had to keep pedalling, but on the whole he was turbine-smooth and loving it.
Great stuff. It would seem that baudman is right. Fixed would seem to provide a control mechanism which, perhaps, makes co-ordination easier, since control is, as it were, "shared" between the rider and the automatic revolving of the pedals. Something for me to bear in mind for future reference.Organising the Bradford Kids Saturday Bike Club at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre since 1998
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/eastbradfordcyclingclub/0 -
Brilliant. And fixed is the best 0
