YouthInAsia

Me, my wife and my son rode this morning. My son has autism. 28 miles is a lot for us to do at one time, but my son has never done that kind of mileage. 28 miles, mostly flat, but at a decent clip (10-15 MPH). And get this; He never once complained or asked to be done. How many 13-year-olds can say they've rode 28 miles?

HauntedMyst

Awesome! 28 miles is big for any kid. Nice job!

Hangtownmatt

That's awesome. Cycling could be just the outlet he needs. Google "Freddie Hoffman bicycle". He's not autistic but certainly has/had his own set of challenges. Here are a couple links to get you started:

The Man Who Rode to the Moon (and back) (twice) | Miles 4 Melanoma

Biking A Million Miles for a Cure Video - ABC News

t x

28 miles is no small feat. This is just great, congratulations to your son!

milkbaby

Congrats to your son, that's a pretty awesome accomplishment! It sounds like you all had a fun time doing something together as a family. Keep it up and happy riding to you!

fishboy316

That is wonderful! My g-baby starts complaining after 5 miles!

Symtex

What does Autism have to do with it ? My nephew as some form of Autism and he's a very capable young man. He's got a black belt already and he's only 11 years old. We should embrace them as their often better than most at many things.

I must admit though, it is quite the feats for a young man to do this kind of millage at his age. So congrats to you and your family for teaching them the value of exercise and the pleasure of cycling.

richietables 

Nice work! Sounds like a great ride!

YouthInAsia

This is a very deep and loaded question, although I realize you meant it to be rhetorical. And you make a good point with your words. Nonetheless, I feel the need to address it.

I appreciate your comments, by-the-way, Symtex, as I do everyone who commented on this thread. It means a lot to me as a parent.

Autism is different in everyone who has it. And if you don't have a child with autism yourself, I don't think you can understand the full affect that a disability like autism has on a child and his family. In years past, people would've said my son was mentally ********, and that would've been an accurate statement. Today it just doesn't sound politically correct. His brain doesn't work like everyone else's and he can't be cured. He's 13 but has the mental capacity of a 5-year-old at best. I can't have a conversation with my teenager. Tears are forming in my eyes as I type this. Truth is, my son doesn't do "better than most at many things." He's far behind: academically, mentally, self-care, coordination, etc. He'll probably live with us forever. But he is truly a blessing, a joy and also a challenge.

For my son bicycling is a release, a therapy. It's freedom. It's one of the very few things he can do better than most kids his age. When he's on a bike he looks, and probably feels, like every other kid. I know you celebrate this feat with me and I appreciate that more than you know!

PS - Apparently the bike forums don't let me type the word r-e-t-a-r-d-e-d but that's the word used above where you see asterisks.

Symtex

I am happy to hear that he has loving parents that really cares about their child well being. You are correct there is very different form of autism. My brother's son (my nephew) has an mild form of autism and it never stop him from achieving anything he wants. He's not my son but as his godfather I wish nothing but the best and I wouldn't want him to use his autism as an excuse.

spoonfork

I'm happy with your son achievment I myself have a son with mild autism and I know is not easy to take care of them . Even thought his condition is mild we already have a hard time consider your kid could be even worst .

Jeremy_S

It could be a great outlet for him. My older sister has a mix of autism and asbergers and it is quite severe. She's 44 ears old and has never spent a night away from my mother. When she was a teenager, that was her therapy. And older internally geared 3 speed schwinn (spelling?) bike. Now I can't tell you how far she rode because this was the 80's and we didn't have wireless speedo's and strava but her typical rides were upwards of 4 hours. It was how she kept it together as best as she could making laps around the neighborhood as fast as she could pedal.

Congrats to to your son, I hope he develops a passion for it because everyone needs something to enjoy with family.

2manybikes

Congratulations, you may have found something that will always be helpful to him his entire life! I agree, it's a big deal for any 13 year old to ride that far

I have an autistic nephew, he just graduated college. His wonderful parents had a lot to do with his success.

Last summer I took my 19 year old autistic and very ADD friend on a century ride. He did need to stop and rest a couple of times around mile 80. Still he did very well without all the training I had. I tease him about being being tired because I'm 64. He understands and gives it right back to me. I think he handles the autisim well because he is very smart. We have three special needs young kids in our weekly slow ride. Two of them can keep up to me, and on a good day can probably drop me.