Some of you know that Middle Child was attending a bike camp this summer. She has always wanted to learn to ride a bike, but never had any success. I had heard about an organization 10 years ago that taught children with disabilities to ride, but the locations were always out of state. This past spring, I came upon their website again. For those interested, it's icanshine.org (be prepared with tissues!) I was thrilled to see that they were having a program within a reasonable distance for me to drive each day.
I asked my daughter if she was interested, after showing her the website, and received a resounding YES! I sent an email to the local sponsor and asked if there was an age limit (my daughter is 21) and they replied with an "absolutely not!" I got her registered and we were ready to roll.....literally!
Sunday afternoon, a parent only meeting was held to talk about helmets and appropriate bikes to buy for your rider. You must bring your own bike to use at the end of the week. We also met with the two college seniors who run the program and travel around the country with the specialized bikes. A local chapter of the Autism Society sponsored our local program and is the one who secures the location and the many volunteers needed for the week. There were five sessions held each day, with a total of 40 riders and 80 volunteers, aged 16-adult.
The website claims an 80% success rate, which my daughter latched onto right away. However, when we took her to buy her new bike on Sunday night, she did say, "Wow....this is a really nice bike! It will be a shame if I'm not able to ride it. . . ." That just about broke my heart. Would she be able to do it??
We showed up the first day to the high school gym where it was being held. She met her two volunteers that would be with her the entire week. One was a 40-something Mom who had no connection to autism, she just liked to volunteer and made it a family affair, having her two teens volunteer with her. The other volunteer was a med student who was incredibly encouraging. Can I just say how AMAZING these volunteers were?? Not only were they upbeat the entire time, in 95 degree heat, but they had to be in top shape to do all the jogging along side the riders. It looked exhausting!
An engineer in the 1980's designed the bikes so that it gave a better way to learn balance than traditional training wheels. The front tire was normal, but the back tire was just a small rubber wheel with the addition of a rubberized rolling pin that was wide in the middle and tapered out at the ends. The first two days, the kids remained in the gym and rode the bikes around and around the perimeter, while the volunteers walked/jogged along. As they saw that the kids were progressing, they would change the rolling pins out to more narrow widths. Also on the second day, the bike technician took each rider on a tandem bike ride, which the kids LOVED. By the third day, kids were graduating to a regular two wheeler that had a large handle on the back. Once they were comfortable, they were sent outside to the high school track to ride. My daughter was the third one in the group sent out. I was nervous about how it was going to go, but once the volunteers helped her get started, she was riding that bike around the track with a HUGE smile on her face! By the end of day four, ALL the riders were out on the track, most with their bikes that they had brought from home. Some still need their volunteers to jog along side of them, but many, like my daughter, were able to ride around and around the track without any assistance. By the end of day five, 100% of the riders could ride their bikes on their own. Not that you'd send any of them on a 20 mile bike path and just wave goodbye, but they were definitely riding independently.
It was fun to get to know all the riders and their parents during the week. The majority had autism, but there was also a boy with Down's and a girl who was 9 years old, but only weighed 40 pounds. What an inspiration to watch these kids work so hard all week AND to succeed! You can probably imagine how all the parents clapped and whistled for all the kids. It's still going to take a lot more practice, but she's definitely on her way!
I asked my daughter if she was interested, after showing her the website, and received a resounding YES! I sent an email to the local sponsor and asked if there was an age limit (my daughter is 21) and they replied with an "absolutely not!" I got her registered and we were ready to roll.....literally!
Sunday afternoon, a parent only meeting was held to talk about helmets and appropriate bikes to buy for your rider. You must bring your own bike to use at the end of the week. We also met with the two college seniors who run the program and travel around the country with the specialized bikes. A local chapter of the Autism Society sponsored our local program and is the one who secures the location and the many volunteers needed for the week. There were five sessions held each day, with a total of 40 riders and 80 volunteers, aged 16-adult.
The website claims an 80% success rate, which my daughter latched onto right away. However, when we took her to buy her new bike on Sunday night, she did say, "Wow....this is a really nice bike! It will be a shame if I'm not able to ride it. . . ." That just about broke my heart. Would she be able to do it??
We showed up the first day to the high school gym where it was being held. She met her two volunteers that would be with her the entire week. One was a 40-something Mom who had no connection to autism, she just liked to volunteer and made it a family affair, having her two teens volunteer with her. The other volunteer was a med student who was incredibly encouraging. Can I just say how AMAZING these volunteers were?? Not only were they upbeat the entire time, in 95 degree heat, but they had to be in top shape to do all the jogging along side the riders. It looked exhausting!
An engineer in the 1980's designed the bikes so that it gave a better way to learn balance than traditional training wheels. The front tire was normal, but the back tire was just a small rubber wheel with the addition of a rubberized rolling pin that was wide in the middle and tapered out at the ends. The first two days, the kids remained in the gym and rode the bikes around and around the perimeter, while the volunteers walked/jogged along. As they saw that the kids were progressing, they would change the rolling pins out to more narrow widths. Also on the second day, the bike technician took each rider on a tandem bike ride, which the kids LOVED. By the third day, kids were graduating to a regular two wheeler that had a large handle on the back. Once they were comfortable, they were sent outside to the high school track to ride. My daughter was the third one in the group sent out. I was nervous about how it was going to go, but once the volunteers helped her get started, she was riding that bike around the track with a HUGE smile on her face! By the end of day four, ALL the riders were out on the track, most with their bikes that they had brought from home. Some still need their volunteers to jog along side of them, but many, like my daughter, were able to ride around and around the track without any assistance. By the end of day five, 100% of the riders could ride their bikes on their own. Not that you'd send any of them on a 20 mile bike path and just wave goodbye, but they were definitely riding independently.
It was fun to get to know all the riders and their parents during the week. The majority had autism, but there was also a boy with Down's and a girl who was 9 years old, but only weighed 40 pounds. What an inspiration to watch these kids work so hard all week AND to succeed! You can probably imagine how all the parents clapped and whistled for all the kids. It's still going to take a lot more practice, but she's definitely on her way!
"You can probably imagine how all the parents clapped and whistled for all the kids."
ReplyDeleteOkay, I'm sitting here doing the same thing, plus I'm all teary-eyed with emotion.
I wasn't even there and I can FEEL the incredible energy from that day! OMG...I wish I could have been there to SEE it! I bet you were just BEAMING!
What an AMAZING week indeed!
I am sooooooo happy and excited for both you and your daughter!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the photos!
Much X to you, my friend!
I held it together, but the volunteer who was a mom cried the first time my daughter rode around the track alone. Truly an amazing group of people. Thanks so much for the love and support, Ron. It means a lot.
Deleteomg, this was the sweetest story!! I LOVE hearing about things like this. What a great opportunity to offer to families, and even greater opportunity to offer to the children they are serving. Kudos to that group!!
ReplyDeleteOops - meant to finish my comment with:
ReplyDeleteCONGRATS to your daughter!!!!
Thanks Kaylen! Don't you wish the media focused on more stories like this?
DeleteOh, God, Bijoux, I can hardly see my computer screen because of the tears in my eyes. This is such a lovely story and I am so grateful to you for sharing it with us. I am very happy for you and your daughter!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Rob. I'm glad it touched you.
DeleteWonderful, wonderful, wonderful! What a sense of accomplishment it must give her. To say nothing of the sheer joy of riding a bike, in and of itself (which I know a thing or two about. . .)
ReplyDeleteThanks; you've warmed my heart for at least the next week. . .
Craig! I finally have a bike story! Thanks for stopping by.
DeleteGlad it all went so well and daughter found she WAS able to ride the bike after her initial doubts! We do tend to forget all those devoted volunteers who make amazing events like this possible.
ReplyDeleteI've been discouraged volunteering in the past. I think I need to just find better organizations to volunteer for.
DeleteIncredible story, and kudos to you and your daughter for not letting anything get in the way!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hear ya on the volunteering thing. We've had great experiences and lousy experiences over the years. Sometimes it's tough to hang in there ..... when you're not set up to at least aim for success.
Thanks, X.
DeleteI AM IN TEARS! What an exciting, beautiful and motivating post! I would have loved to see everyone riding, so proud... that is something that will stick with you FOREVER!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you enjoyed it. It was a thrill to see all the kids whiz by on their bikes.
DeleteWe are still working on the skill. My daughte is struggling if its not a completely flat surface, but we are not giving up.
As a 'former' cycling enthusiast here's a couple techniques I used to teach a couple adults how to ride. Starting as an adult has some obstacles that the rest of us child-learned riders had to a much lesser degree. Here goes:
ReplyDelete- Sometimes knee pads and elbow pads will give an adult a better feeling of safety when first starting. Falling on hard surfaces can be a big fear hurdle.
- Wider tires and flat grass areas can sometimes accelerate the process. The slower riding pace focuses concentration on balance and the softer landing zone can ease fall fears some.
- It's hard to judge in those snaps but it looks to me like the seat is a bit low. When the pedal is at its highest point the knee shouldn't be higher than the hip. For a beginner it can be even but if the knee goes higher that can make keeping balance more difficult as it can shift the body.
- Again, tough to tell from the snaps but it appears that she has no hand brakes so I presume she must reverse-pedal to brake. This can also cause some balance issues as the reversing motion interrupts the rhythm of the ride and can happen at odd positions depending on where the pedals are when it is started. For those with difficulties managing braking I have suggested they have a hand brake installed on just the rear wheel and that often helps. The alternative is to talk over the braking process and determine a comfortable pedal position to use to begin braking and make it a habit to let the pedal reach that spot before braking.
Of course for all I know all that is redundant to the teaching already given but figured I'd share just in case. As you may have guessed the balance thing is a biggy for adults to master , usually much more so than children. We've got a bit more to balance, ya know? So if you can identify where the balance glitches happen and mitigate those it can build some confidence. Anyhow, Mr Know It All is done and gone ;-)
I took her out twice yesterday and there was a big improvement. Her problem is more fear than anything else.
DeleteYeah, that is very common as an adult doesn't bounce as well as a young-un. There's also teh higher-off-the-ground thingy. Glad things are looking up.
DeleteYay!!! That was absolutely lovely to read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Agent!
Deletebbbbeeeauuuutiful story. thanks for sharing. this is the type of information and stories i would like to see on the internet, something uplifting. i smiled when your daughter smiled. give her a high-five from me.
ReplyDeleteWill do!
DeleteI didn't need to go to that website to need tissues... wow, this was such a heartwarming story. Thank you so much for sharing it. What a wonderful experience for your daughter (and mom!) and I'm sure she'll continue to do great.
ReplyDeleteIt's very cool that the program had a good group of volunteers, too!
Glad you enjoyed! The volunteers were also winners!
DeleteThank you for such a lovely story!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
DeleteThumbs up and up to Middle child and all her classmates!!
ReplyDeleteI could use this type of class. As a child with training wheels, I caught on very slowly to bicycling and I quit at one point.
Not good, I know.
I think now that I am not the only one "in the closet" about this!
Great positive story :)
I'm sure you are not alone. Tons of people have told me they can't swim, so I'm sure there are non-bikers out there too.
DeleteThat. Is. So. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThis whole post makes me bawl all over the place.
I love those volunteers. And I love you.
So good.
Love it.
Congratulations to your daughter!!!!!! :)
Thanks, Kat! I was hoping you'd see this before I take down the pictures!
Delete