In honor of Autism Awareness Month we invited our readers to share their stories with us. We are sharing the stories throughout the month of April. Today’s story is from Patty Pacelli.
Teaching My Autistic Son to Ride a Bike
I’m sure some children with autism learn to ride a bicycle just as well as any other child, but my son Trevor had a hard time with it, and more significantly, had practically zero interest in learning. According to HowtoLearn.com, bicycle riding is usually more difficult for children with autism.
His older sister started learning to ride a bike at about 5 years old, being pushed from behind on a tiny bicycle with training wheels. She had a tricycle before that. Trevor rode the tricycle a little bit, but just wasn’t interested in even trying a two-wheeler. He was too entranced by other things. He would play outside, but spent a lot of time squatting down on the ground, playing with blades of grass or dropping leaves into the storm drains on our cul-de-sac. He seemed happy and content to walk around and explore, but just didn’t want to get on a bicycle. As he went through elementary school, we were busy dealing with his classes and IEPs, and he was developing well, but by 8th grade, he still couldn’t ride a bike. It didn’t really impact him or the family, and it didn’t bother him much.
One day, at the end of his 8th grade year, his dad challenged him to learn to ride a bike over the summer. He said it would be good for Trevor to have a summer goal. I agreed, and decided I would teach him. I am actually pretty patient, but I knew this would not be easy. Trevor was willing to learn, but nervous and not exactly excited about it. I also knew he would be embarrassed for anyone to see him learning. So, on the first day of summer break, we embarked on the journey the best I could… Read the entire story on Patty’s blog
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