[blindkid] bike riding

[Aaron Cannon]

Hi Marie.

Your guy is luckier than I was.  My Mother didn't ride, and my Father
was long gone by this time, so I rode independently.  I am not totally
sure how I didn't get creamed.  Nevertheless, I stuck to riding up and
down my street on the sidewalk.  I had some light perception, so I
could sometimes (and sometimes not) kinda' sorta' tell where the
sidewalk ended and the grass began, and if I got it wrong, I only
crashed in the grass, so it wasn't a big deal.  I just had to be
cautious the first time, in case there was a vehicle sticking out past
the end of a driveway, or another kids bike that was left out on the
sidewalk.

When I was about 13 or so, my Mom bought a tandem bike, and I was of
course then able to broaden my bike riding horizons a lot.  There was
usually someone sighted willing to act as captain, so I was pretty
fortunate in that regard.

Hope this helps.  I think you're doing the right thing by letting him
figure out what works.

Good luck.

Aaron

On 3/27/11, Marie <empwrn at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Thanks for the feedback Aaron! Do you mind if I pick your brain?  How did
> you learn to find curbs, dips, or other obstacles while riding? It kind of
> seemed to me that Jack may have been trying his hand at a little echolation
> the other day. He has some vision and I was calling out "curb" then he
> started making sounds until he got closer and closer and stopped just before
> the curb. I thought it was cool to watch especially since we never attempted
> to teach it. Kids have such sharp minds and Jack is definitely an out of the
> box thinker.
>
> Aaron I would love to hear more about your riding. Did you go off road,
> stick to your home street, what areas did you find most enjoyable? How could
> your parents have helped if they'd had the benefit of grown you to give them
> ideas?
>
>
> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for
> glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing in
> his own way in his own time
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aaron Cannon <cannona at fireantproductions.com>
> Sender: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org
> Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2011 13:43:18
> To: NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,(for parents of blind
> children)<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Reply-To: "NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,
> 	\(for parents of blind children\)" <blindkid at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindkid] bike riding
>
> Hi Marie.
>
> I'm glad you are teaching him to ride.  I've been blind since birth,
> and riding a bike was one of my favorite activities growing up.  As
> for your question, until you find a more permanent option, perhaps you
> could sing a song while riding.  That way, he gets the constant queue
> of your voice, but it's not as awkward as having to constantly call
> out.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Enjoy your time out there.
>
> Aaron
>
> On 3/25/11, Marie <empwrn at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>> Hello all, life has been crazy busy here so it's been quite a while since
>> I've posted. One thing we've been up to is bike riding. Jack is currently
>> riding a standard bike with the pedals removed so it functions as a
>> balance
>> bike. He can ride with the pedals but lacks the confidence to do it
>> without
>> us having a hand on his back so we thought going pedal-less a bit longer
>> would help him grown in confidence. We are having a great time doing this
>> as
>> a family and our current system involves us calling out to Jack to follow
>> us
>> or we ride behind him. I have heard that you can get some kind of clicker
>> to
>> make a noise that Jack could learn to listen for on our bikes. Can someone
>> tell me what this thing is actually called and I would love any other bike
>> riding tips/hints you'd like to provide. Jack is visually impaired with
>> vision of 20/320 or so in his right eye and light perception in his left
>> eye. He travels with a cane when he walks and runs and is still adapting
>> to
>> his lack of depth perception so any hints you can give on off road riding
>> would be great too. As of right now, I yell out big bump or KABOOM to let
>> him know an obstacle or drop off is coming up while riding.
>>
>>
>>
>> Marie (mother of Jack, born May 2005)
>>
>> Check out our blog at http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com for
>> glimpses into our busy life with a boy who is busy growing and developing
>> in
>> his own way in his own time
>>
>>
>>
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>
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