Originally Posted by skeeter
My advice (as how i was taught) is get the kid on the bike with feet on pedals push him along from behind go faster & faster then let go of bike , if he falls make him get right back on it (as inmy case i refused & cousin gave me a hard swift whack to the head with the palm of his hand,so i had no choice) & before you know it the kid will be pedalling away.much faster learning curve than training wheels
or trying to manipulatise him with words or other cohersions. Simple & effective.
I probably wouldn't be quite so blunt or violent, but I can relate to this. I had what might be termed an intellectually impaired person enrol for a learn-to-ride course. He was bulky -- probably 250lbs. I used my ladyback tandem to put beginners on the back to give them a good idea of the sensation of riding. This guy, apart from being big, was relatively unco-cordinated for riding. I went 2km and had a huge workout just trying to keep the tandem upright. I was covered in sweat when we returned.
Anyway, he persisted, and I persisted through the exercises and his innumerable questions and observations. He got to coasting downhill OK. And he almost had the pedalling going once or twice. Then he interrupted me yet again while I was working with another student, and I sort of snapped (I've used R in place of his name): "Get on the bike, remember what I said, and pedal down that hill, R!!!!!" I told him in a rather loud, exasperated voice. And he did! He was right after that, and I passed him on his bike a few times at various locations in the months afterwards. He wasn't autistic because his motor functions basically were fine, but his intellectual impairment presented its challenges.
eric, as to the balance exercises: Use some masking tape to put down a line about 5 metres long on a floor or a concrete path. Get the boy to walk along it as though it was a tightrope. As with most people I do this with (as in all students), he will look down and teeter-totter a lot and use his outstretched arms for balance. Then get him to look up at a fixed point on a wall, or a tree or something straight ahead, and walk along the line using his peripheral vision and with his arms by his sides. Usually the teeter-tottering is reduced dramatically. Try to instill in him that this is what you want him to do on the bike when he starts to coast -- to look up and at where he wants to go. You might well have to stand ahead of him and talk to him to keep his attention on this.
The other method for determining balance is to have him stand with his legs crossed and to cross his arms over his chest. Then close his eyes for 30 seconds. This helps determine his ability to balance in the first instance, and his motor-co-ordination skills to recover the slight imbalances. If he topple rather rapidly, you may have some significant balance issues to overcome.