Cycling with an autistic teen

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smuggers
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Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by smuggers »

The inclusive cycling section, is a most welcome addition to the CTC Forum.. Every person who wants to ride a bike, should have the opportunity, regardless of physical or mental ability. Our youngest son is 16yrs old & Autistic. I'm really struggling to get him to balance on a bike & I did get in touch with Charlotte's Tandems last year about the loan of a Tandem for our son. An amazing organisation, kept running by the kindness of people towards others. Charlotte's Tandems, did indeed fix us up with a tandem & a date was set for us to borrow a tandem for our son. Unfortunately my wife was very apprehensive about me taking our son out for rides & a safe place to keep the tandem, so with great sadness I had to give back word. It's a real shame, because he's now at an age where something like this would be of great benefit to him.. Take for instance, Easter holidays & the lack of local provision for children & young adults.. So we have to find ways of keeping him busy & occupied, which can be challenging.. We do have a local Autism Resource Centre, but unfortunately due to cuts, they're unable to run it properly & I fear for it's future.. ( Thank you, Mr Cameron ) I'm just pleased we have this section here & I feel only good can come from having a place where people can come to exchange ideas, knowledge & experiences. The bottom line is nobody should feel their opportunities are limited, regardless of ability or through lack of services in their community. Riding a bike is a wonderful thing & something many of us take for granted everyday..

Kind Regards..

Smuggers
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
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531colin
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Re: Welcome to the Inclusive Cycling Section

Post by 531colin »

Smuggers, do you think a confidence-boost for your good lady might be in order?
These people http://www.opencountry.org.uk/tandem%20gallery.html are only just over the hill in Yorkshire, and although its some time since I was involved with them, I am sure they will know of anything local to you. Also I just got some hits googling "disability cycling Lancashire".
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Re: Welcome to the Inclusive Cycling Section

Post by LollyKat »

What lovely pictures!
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smuggers
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Re: Welcome to the Inclusive Cycling Section

Post by smuggers »

531colin wrote:Smuggers, do you think a confidence-boost for your good lady might be in order?
These people http://www.opencountry.org.uk/tandem%20gallery.html are only just over the hill in Yorkshire, and although its some time since I was involved with them, I am sure they will know of anything local to you. Also I just got some hits googling "disability cycling Lancashire".


Thanks for the link Colin.. I agree with LollyKat, Lovely heartwarming pictures.. Open Country sounds a great charity. Really is great to see people with disabilities, out in the countryside.. The smiles on faces, say's it all.. We do have "Wheels for all" here in Lancashire & I'm going to try and book a place for our son. They ride around a local running track, which is obviously safer than riding on the roads.. My wife really worries about the dangers of taking our son out on busy roads..
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
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RickH
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Re: Welcome to the Inclusive Cycling Section

Post by RickH »

smuggers wrote:The inclusive cycling section, is a most welcome addition to the CTC Forum.. Every person who wants to ride a bike, should have the opportunity, regardless of physical or mental ability. Our youngest son is 16yrs old & Autistic. I'm really struggling to get him to balance on a bike & I did get in touch with Charlotte's Tandems last year about the loan of a Tandem for our son. An amazing organisation, kept running by the kindness of people towards others. Charlotte's Tandems, did indeed fix us up with a tandem & a date was set for us to borrow a tandem for our son. Unfortunately my wife was very apprehensive about me taking our son out for rides & a safe place to keep the tandem, so with great sadness I had to give back word. It's a real shame, because he's now at an age where something like this would be of great benefit to him.. Take for instance, Easter holidays & the lack of local provision for children & young adults.. So we have to find ways of keeping him busy & occupied, which can be challenging.. We do have a local Autism Resource Centre, but unfortunately due to cuts, they're unable to run it properly & I fear for it's future.. ( Thank you, Mr Cameron ) I'm just pleased we have this section here & I feel only good can come from having a place where people can come to exchange ideas, knowledge & experiences. The bottom line is nobody should feel their opportunities are limited, regardless of ability or through lack of services in their community. Riding a bike is a wonderful thing & something many of us take for granted everyday..

Kind Regards..

Smuggers

Hi

Sorry for the late reply. We have been doing short break care for a young lad on the Autistic Spectrum for the last year.

We have a tandem (that I mainly use to pilot a visually impaired lady) and I have taken him out on it on a couple of occasions (before the night drew in last autumn - we'll probably be getting out on it again soon). What worked with him, as a very literate and articulate youngster, was to have clear simple written instructions strapped to the stoker bars - "Put helmet on and sit on bike. Put feet in toestraps on pedals." "Stay on the bike and keep your feet on the pedals until Rick says it is OK to get off." "When Rick pedals, XX pedals too. When Rick stops pedalling, XX stops pedalling too."

Our case worker has a teenage son on the Autistic spectrum and her husband takes him out on a dutch tandem they have bought which has the steering on the rear bars (something like this one - but I haven't yet found out the exact make & model) so their son sits at the front, where he has a clear view and also be supervised. He can pedal if he wants (but doesn't have to).

Whereabouts in Lancashire are you? I'd be happy to meet up with our tandem (a Circe Helios so it will adapt to most shapes & sizes of rider) if you wanted to give it a try. Traffic free routes are a good place to start. With "our" lad I started out off road (avenues to "Liverpool Castle" at Rivington and, having decided that it was a success - judged by the gales of laughter accompanied by cried of "Faster! Faster!" and "This is fun!", we ventured out onto some quieter roads.

Regards

Rick.
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smuggers
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Re: Welcome to the Inclusive Cycling Section

Post by smuggers »

RickH wrote:
smuggers wrote:The inclusive cycling section, is a most welcome addition to the CTC Forum.. Every person who wants to ride a bike, should have the opportunity, regardless of physical or mental ability. Our youngest son is 16yrs old & Autistic. I'm really struggling to get him to balance on a bike & I did get in touch with Charlotte's Tandems last year about the loan of a Tandem for our son. An amazing organisation, kept running by the kindness of people towards others. Charlotte's Tandems, did indeed fix us up with a tandem & a date was set for us to borrow a tandem for our son. Unfortunately my wife was very apprehensive about me taking our son out for rides & a safe place to keep the tandem, so with great sadness I had to give back word. It's a real shame, because he's now at an age where something like this would be of great benefit to him.. Take for instance, Easter holidays & the lack of local provision for children & young adults.. So we have to find ways of keeping him busy & occupied, which can be challenging.. We do have a local Autism Resource Centre, but unfortunately due to cuts, they're unable to run it properly & I fear for it's future.. ( Thank you, Mr Cameron ) I'm just pleased we have this section here & I feel only good can come from having a place where people can come to exchange ideas, knowledge & experiences. The bottom line is nobody should feel their opportunities are limited, regardless of ability or through lack of services in their community. Riding a bike is a wonderful thing & something many of us take for granted everyday..

Kind Regards..

Smuggers

Hi

Sorry for the late reply. We have been doing short break care for a young lad on the Autistic Spectrum for the last year.

We have a tandem (that I mainly use to pilot a visually impaired lady) and I have taken him out on it on a couple of occasions (before the night drew in last autumn - we'll probably be getting out on it again soon). What worked with him, as a very literate and articulate youngster, was to have clear simple written instructions strapped to the stoker bars - "Put helmet on and sit on bike. Put feet in toestraps on pedals." "Stay on the bike and keep your feet on the pedals until Rick says it is OK to get off." "When Rick pedals, XX pedals too. When Rick stops pedalling, XX stops pedalling too."

Our case worker has a teenage son on the Autistic spectrum and her husband takes him out on a dutch tandem they have bought which has the steering on the rear bars (something like this one - but I haven't yet found out the exact make & model) so their son sits at the front, where he has a clear view and also be supervised. He can pedal if he wants (but doesn't have to).

Whereabouts in Lancashire are you? I'd be happy to meet up with our tandem (a Circe Helios so it will adapt to most shapes & sizes of rider) if you wanted to give it a try. Traffic free routes are a good place to start. With "our" lad I started out off road (avenues to "Liverpool Castle" at Rivington and, having decided that it was a success - judged by the gales of laughter accompanied by cried of "Faster! Faster!" and "This is fun!", we ventured out onto some quieter roads.

Regards

Rick.


Good afternoon Rick..

Our son is literate & written instructions would be helpful for him, with regards to understanding what to do when riding a tandem. Your communication system for helping the young man, would probably be similar to the one I would use for our son. His main issue is balance really & I was hoping the loan of a tandem from Charlottes Tandems, would be a good stepping stone to getting him riding a bike on his own eventually along the greenway here..

I've never seen one of those Dutch tandems before & I'm not sure how our son would be on the front, but being able to supervise him better would be ideal.. This tandem saga has caused some problems between my wife & myself.. I'd love to get him out regularly for rides & have tried to convince my wife of the benefits of bike riding for our son, but she struggles with anxiety & worry, which impacts on her health at times. She knows he would probably enjoy getting out cycling with me, but struggles to overcome & deal with the worry.. It's hard to explain to others.

I'm in Padiham & it's very kind of you to offer to meet us, so J could try out the tandem.. I'm off touring in May & perhaps I could drop you a pm about the possibility of meeting up ? I can easily get over your way in our car with our son.. I will have a talk to my better half soon about your offer to meet.. I rode on route 6 of the national cycle network last week & I'd love to get him on there eventually

Regards..

Mark
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by Vorpal »

Mr. V sometimes suffers with anxiety and worry. He is not bothered now about me going out with the kids, but he used to be.

My solution was to take him with. We had gentle and short distance rides (he was only up to a few miles, at first) to someplace nice like the tea rooms in the next village. I don't know if you can do that with Mrs. smuggers, but it might help her if she could come along on the rides.
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smuggers
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by smuggers »

Vorpal wrote:Mr. V sometimes suffers with anxiety and worry. He is not bothered now about me going out with the kids, but he used to be.

My solution was to take him with. We had gentle and short distance rides (he was only up to a few miles, at first) to someplace nice like the tea rooms in the next village. I don't know if you can do that with Mrs. smuggers, but it might help her if she could come along on the rides.


Hello Vorpal... I do hope to get out with our son on some kind of bike eventually.. Mr's Smuggers, has been struggling with anxiety & stress for many years and is very protective of our son, so I have to pick my moments, when it comes to new activities.. I have tried many, many times to get Mr's Smuggers, back on a bike without success.. Luckily we have a greenway cycle route near us, which will be ideal for our son to ride on.

Regards..

Smuggers
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
Edwards
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by Edwards »

smuggers wrote:
Vorpal wrote:Mr. V sometimes suffers with anxiety and worry. He is not bothered now about me going out with the kids, but he used to be.

My solution was to take him with. We had gentle and short distance rides (he was only up to a few miles, at first) to someplace nice like the tea rooms in the next village. I don't know if you can do that with Mrs. smuggers, but it might help her if she could come along on the rides.


Hello Vorpal... I do hope to get out with our son on some kind of bike eventually.. Mr's Smuggers, has been struggling with anxiety & stress for many years and is very protective of our son, so I have to pick my moments, when it comes to new activities.. I have tried many, many times to get Mr's Smuggers, back on a bike without success.. Luckily we have a greenway cycle route near us, which will be ideal for our son to ride on.

Regards..

Smuggers

Anxiety and Stress is something that accompanies me as well, so I have an idea of what she is going through.
If you are able to get to Brum we have a Dawes Tandem you could borrow if you can not get one from Charlottes.
It should fit people up to 5ft6 possibly a bit more.
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Paulatic
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by Paulatic »

Hi, I've just seen this thread and can give you my experience.

I do 12 hrs a week respite care with a severely autistic child. He is now 15 and I began working with him 3 years ago.
Three years ago he had little language and went everywhere with his mother in the safety of the car. She was naturally very protective if his safety as he had no sense of danger.

I began by walking him home from school, with no special awareness I had to steer him around people and obstacles. I felt that cycling would be a good activity for him to get him away from computers and videos. Balance was a problem but with perseverance and lots of running beside he eventually got it. There was no way I dared to take him on the road so I took him to our local Ae forest and took him around the green route. I had to do lots of heading off and shepherding to the side when vehicles and cyclist were around but after a number of visits I could relax more.

It began to wonder about using a tandem. To keep Social Services happy I did bike ability level 3 course. Then borrowed a tandem from Charlottes tandems.

I had so many worries the first time I set off with him, was he going to run off when we stopped at traffic lights, was he going to just hang off to one side. There were all sorts of unknowns but I went for it and most were unfounded.

Told me I was going 'too fast' but I discovered that was my cadence. He will try to get away with not pedalling but who wouldn't. Furthest I get him is about 15ml, with stops to climb trees and sausage roll or chocolate somewhere.

I looked for facilities to help me in Scotland but there seemed to be nothing suitable. I came across a company Quest88 at the Scottish Bike show one year. They appeared more interested in selling to organisations rather than the individual. Later on I discovered a facility in Cumbria http://www.ctc.org.uk/map-feature/watch ... cle-centre .Dont know if that is too far away for you?
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by RickH »

smuggers wrote:I'm in Padiham & it's very kind of you to offer to meet us, so J could try out the tandem.. I'm off touring in May & perhaps I could drop you a pm about the possibility of meeting up ? I can easily get over your way in our car with our son.. I will have a talk to my better half soon about your offer to meet.. I rode on route 6 of the national cycle network last week & I'd love to get him on there eventually

Regards..

Mark

Hi Mark

Yes get in touch whenever you're ready & I'm sure we can arrange something - either here, near you or somewhere in between. I could get over to you if you thought familiar territory would be better for J. I'm no stranger either to smuggling the tandem onto trains that technically don't take tandems and/or soloing it several miles, assuming I've not got access to the car.

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Help from Charlotte's Tandems (CT)

Post by merrymac »

Hi smuggers
I'm the Helper for CT here in Cheshire but haven't been on this Forum for over 2 years (too busy lending out tandems) which is why I've only just come across your thread. The problems with autism & tandems that you and others detail I have seen many times in the 4 years as a CT Helper and have found solutions. I've loaned tandems to a number of autistic people, both adults and kids. I'm off on a Cycle tour now til 14 July, but if you want to discuss tandems and your son, please PM me and I'll get in touch on my return
Kind Regards

Brian
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smuggers
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Re: Cycling with an autistic teen

Post by smuggers »

Edwards wrote:
smuggers wrote:
Vorpal wrote:Mr. V sometimes suffers with anxiety and worry. He is not bothered now about me going out with the kids, but he used to be.

My solution was to take him with. We had gentle and short distance rides (he was only up to a few miles, at first) to someplace nice like the tea rooms in the next village. I don't know if you can do that with Mrs. smuggers, but it might help her if she could come along on the rides.


Hello Vorpal... I do hope to get out with our son on some kind of bike eventually.. Mr's Smuggers, has been struggling with anxiety & stress for many years and is very protective of our son, so I have to pick my moments, when it comes to new activities.. I have tried many, many times to get Mr's Smuggers, back on a bike without success.. Luckily we have a greenway cycle route near us, which will be ideal for our son to ride on.

Regards..

Smuggers

Anxiety and Stress is something that accompanies me as well, so I have an idea of what she is going through.
If you are able to get to Brum we have a Dawes Tandem you could borrow if you can not get one from Charlottes.
It should fit people up to 5ft6 possibly a bit more.


Good morning, Edwards..

Sorry for my late reply & your very kind offer to help us out. Our son is now riding on two wheels after lot's of practice & perseverance. Thank's again for your kindness..

Kind Regards..

Mark
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
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smuggers
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Re: Help from Charlotte's Tandems (CT)

Post by smuggers »

merrymac wrote:Hi smuggers
I'm the Helper for CT here in Cheshire but haven't been on this Forum for over 2 years (too busy lending out tandems) which is why I've only just come across your thread. The problems with autism & tandems that you and others detail I have seen many times in the 4 years as a CT Helper and have found solutions. I've loaned tandems to a number of autistic people, both adults and kids. I'm off on a Cycle tour now til 14 July, but if you want to discuss tandems and your son, please PM me and I'll get in touch on my return
Kind Regards

Brian


Good Morning Brian..

Sounds like your a busy man & have lot's of experience with supporting people with autism.. Our son is now able to ride on two wheels after many attempts at wheels4all here in Lancashire.. I never thought he'd get the hang of it, but I'm so pleased he's finally managed it. Of course this now brings new worries, along with the need to purchase another bike ( If I can find room ) Going to see how he copes with riding on the greenway here & try to get some strategies in place for when we go out together..

Thank's again Brian & keep up the good work that you do for people with disabilities..

Kind Regards..

Mark
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. --H.G. Wells
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