Help teaching an autistic child to ride a bike.?

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First background on myself and the child

When I was six I taught the four year old across the street how to ride a bike, took the training wheels off myself and amazed both his and my mother. I continued teaching neighborhood kids to ride bikes until I graduated high school and moved off, then I taught my own daughter, even while her bipolar manipulative mother was actively trying to prevent her learning because her older daughter (not mine) never learned (her mothers fault, not my lack of trying).



I'm now dating a gal with two children who's fathers are not in their lives, her older one is autistic, Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). I qualify as having a mild case of Aspergers, so her family which has had no experience with Autism loves having me around because I can see things from his perspective having been there myself, but I can explain it, even if it's nowhere near the level he has it, and his case is considered mild



Most of the childs autism is language related, he learns massive details about things he's interested in (Transformers, Pokemon), and can speak about these things for hours, but can't really get detailed - he doesn't have the words. He ask question he knows the answers to and makes common knowledge statements, regularly. He's very intelligent, but he's trapped in his own mind, typical Autism traits.

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The child is great at riding a scooter, he wants to ride a bike. I tried the no training wheels or pedals approach, the kick along and scoot method, he refuses because he's not interested in that (the same way he decides if he's going to like food, visually lost interest) and he sticks to his guns on lack of interest. His mother had him using training wheels before I was in the picture and he was great with that, but apparently a bike with training wheels and a bike without is a whole different concept.



I've got him to where he can pedal and go straight without me holding onto the training handle I put on the back, but he forgets to steer. It's just the same as steering his scooter, but when he gets to pedaling it's so fast I can barely keep up running, much less catch him when he's falling, he hits curbs and falls hard. I've got him to the point where he'll get back on and do it again but the communication barrier is posing an issue when it comes to telling him to steer. I've tried visual demonstrations, explaining the bike is going to go where the front tire is pointing, I've tried everything I can, but he's all or nothing, all pedal no steering.



I feel bad I can't work with him more, I been on the night shift most of the time I've dated his mother and I only have a couple of days in a month I can really work with him - being awake and not at work/school at the opposite times etc... I should work days next month, plenty of evening time this way even though I missed summer vacation. Any tips anyone can give me would be great.



I'll probably cross-post this to a more autism specific section later if I don't have the best of followups, but I've been active in this section quite frequently -especially BMX- and I've come to respect quite a few of you, even if some of you are "take it to a shop" and "road bike is only bike" shills.Help teaching an autistic child to ride a bike.?
Hi, my brother is mildly autistic, and I taught him to ride a bike. I found that the problem with him was getting him to really keep the interest. What I did was I dug the old buggy out, and drove him around in it until he really saw the fun in it. Then he was able to get him on his own bike and going. Not an easy task, I promise you as he was a bit large for it but it was worth the work in the end.



You didn't mention how old he is, so I'm not sure, but if he's young enough perhaps one of these could work for you: http://www.bikehacks.com/.a/6a0120a7ed5f鈥?/a>



I have seen them for sale used for not much on Craigslist, and I would bet you can resell it after you're done.



I also found that when he was younger, I really used what interested him to translate into other things. It wouldn't take much work to really learn up on the subjects that interest him, and I imagine he'd be all too happy to educate you himself from what you have said.Help teaching an autistic child to ride a bike.?
lot of words

also - it may just not be possible

his issues are not specific to cycling really

if you can;t solve them elsewhere, why would yuo expect a bike to be different?

it is actually dangerous

i wouldn;t try it, really



wleHelp teaching an autistic child to ride a bike.?
I feel for you on this one and think what you've done so far is fantastic.

I myself am a cycle mechanic and have been riding for a long time im not that clued up on autism. Only thing i can think of is if you own a bike if can ride in front of him and try to get him following you. As a general thing in a lot of sports like cycling and snowboarding where you look you usually end up turning kinda like a subconscious thing. So if he can follow you round some corners keep communicating to him so he knows to follow you it mite get him thinking that he has to steer to stay with you on the ride

Hope this can help.