[blparent] Teaching a Sighted Child to Ride a Bike

[Steve Jacobson]

Jo Elizabeth,

It has been some years now, but I taught both kids to ride their bicycles.
Both kids had some vision loss but were able to see well enough to use
normal visual techniques, but of course I had to approach it from a
nonvisual angle.  I learned to ride as a blind kid but never rode that well.
However, I got the idea well enough to know what needs to happen.  That was
helpful to me.  

There are so many variables that it is hard to know exactly what to suggest.
Each child is very different and your knowledge of riding can also play a
role.  A lot of riding is just gaining the trust that the bicycle can remain
upright on two wheels.  Finding a gentle slant like a driveway can help.
Rather than riding up and down, starting out by riding only down and walking
the bicycle back up might help.  If she gets the hang of riding down hill,
immediately turning around and trying to ride back up might cancel out the
gains just made. 

Also, it is almost inevitable that she will fall more than once.  Sometimes
the fear of falling can interfere with the process.  Make sure that she has
some protection against falling such as knee and elbow pads and a helmet.
If she knows that she has some protection, it could give her more confidence
making her less tense.  Since she likely already has these, make sure to
play up how they can protect her to try to lessen the fear of falling if
that seems to be an issue.

This has probably already happened, but be certain she has seen other kids
ride a lot.  Particularly, make sure she has paid attention to how her
friends start out.  This is a difficult thing to convey verbally.  

Finally, keep in mind that not all kids ever learn to ride.  Also, if you
were to ask around, you would likely find that in most cases, sighted kids
learned to ride with little help from sighted parents.  You can do a certain
amount, but you can't make a child ride.  At some point, they either will
learn or may conclude that it isn't that important.  It is very hard to
watch your own child struggle with this so you have my sympathy.  Still, it
is important to remember that many, many sighted parents can't run along
side of their child as they learn.  You can slant the odds more in their
favor but you can't make it happen.

Best regards,

Steve

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Jo Elizabeth Pinto via BlParent  <blparent at nfbnet.org>
To:  blparent at nfbnet.org
CC: jopinto at msn.com
Date: Monday, May 29, 2017 11:56 pm
Subject: [blparent] Teaching a Sighted Child to Ride a Bike

>
>
> Hi everybody. Have any of you taught your children to ride their bikes? My
daughter is nine and sighted, and I haven't had much luck at this. She has a
bike, but her training wheels are still on. She's embarrassed to ride now,
since most of her friends have been without training wheels for a few
summers, at least. I've walked behind her, or rather jogged now, for a few
years. She can ride independently with the training wheels, but I can't seem
to get her over the hump to where she can balance without them. The thing
is, I can't run fast enough with her to hold her up so she can stay in
balance and have me let go so she'll maintain speed and keep the bike
sailing along on her own. The hard truth is that I'm not liable to get any
help from her sighted dad on this one. He claims his knees are bad. I'm not
sure I believe that, but whether I believe it or not isn't really relevant.
She has a three-wheeled scooter, but it's on its last wobbles, and she needs
to learn to ride her bike. Any ideas?
> 
> 
> Jo Elizabeth Pinto
> 
> "The Bright Side of Darkness"
> Is my award-winning novel,
> Available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats.
> http://www.amazon.com/author/jepinto
> 
> 
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