Trikes And Tricycles For Older Children
If your child can pedal but cannot balance on a two wheeled pedal bike, then a third wheel provides so much more stability when riding. This makes tricycles a popular choice, and there are a number of different style kids trikes, including this great BMX style tricycle so cool!
The Mission MX retails for £670 from Mission Cycles.
It can be upgraded to a special needs version from £825. This comes with lumbar support, a 4 point harness, platform pedals with adjustable velcro straps, and a detachable parent handle. Additional modifications can be made on request.
For older kids and teenagers, the more mature looking Pashley Picador Tricycle comes in two frame sizes. The 15 is suitable for an inside leg of 25.5 to 32.5 and the 17 frame for taller riders .
Use Safety Gear For Bike
For a milestone as big as this, you want to conduct excellent preparation for bike-riding. This includes making sure that your child is safe no matter what happens. Safety is important when teaching your child to ride a bike.
Your child would need the following protective gear for cycling:
Allow your child to choose his/her own gear so the child looks forward to learning how to ride a bike. In addition to choosing your childs preferred colors and designs, check that every piece of gear is the right size and is comfortable.
Hugbike Is A New Type Of Tandem Bike Designed For People With Autism
hugbike is a new kind of tandem designed to allow the use of a bicycle to people with autism, down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, blindness or other disabilities. thanks to its unique long handlebars, hugbike lets the driver sit at the back and direct the bike, while the passenger at the front can relax and enjoy the ride in total safety. created by opera della marca srl, the project is promoted and supported by the fundation oltre il labirinto onlus, which is one of the worlds leading non-profit organizations in the autism field. in fact, the bike is partly assembled by a group of workers with autism, which provides them with a safe working opportunity.
all images courtesy of hugbike
on traditional tandem bikes, the driver sits at the front, directing the vehicle through his handlebar, while the passenger sits at the back. on hugbike, things are reversed, with the person at the back controlling the bicycle in absolute safety while allowing the passenger to sit at the front, embraced and hugged. thanks to protection provided by the drivers arms, this particular posture ensures greater safety, especially if the passenger is a child or an elder. though designed for people with disabilities such as autism or down syndrome, the bike is also perfect for families with small children, friends, and couples.
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Balance Bike For Kids With Special Needs
For children with special needs, riding a bicycle does not come easy. For kids with Down Syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy, trying to coordinate balance, pedalling and steering is an extremely difficult task. At LittleBig Bikes we want to enable all kids to have a go at using a bike, giving means for social interaction and group play. As the LittleBig is a proper bike, theyll feel just like the other kids as they coast along independently.
I was looking for a bike for my daughter who has Dyspraxia and was struggling with heavy bikes and with pedals. She is in love with it she loves the colour of it and is able to handle it really well. Colour – size – weight- quality all first class.Steve, UK
Steve, UK
The LittleBigs unique design allows it to be used as a balance bike for 4-5 years, the pedals never need to be attached. If your child has slower growth , they may be able to use it for even longer. Kids with low muscle tone are fully supported by the saddle while they have their feet on the ground, making it even easier than walking. The light weight of the LittleBig means it is much easier to push forwards and steer than traditional kids bikes with stabiliser wheels.
Learning to glide along independently and developing their riding skill may also help with their motor skills, personal development and confidence building. Of course, using a balance bike ensures theyre getting lots of valuable exercise.
People With Autism And Disabilities Can Ride In Safety With The Hugbike Tandem Bicycle
Every person with autism or a disability has unique talents and traits that make them amazing just the way they are. However, in many ways, our world is not built for people with exceptional brains and bodies. Individuals on the autism spectrum or who have a disability often struggle to accomplish tasks that are simple for the rest of the population.
For many, riding a bicycle is one of those tasks. Disabilities such as blindness or deafness can obviously preclude a person from being able to ride a bicycle safely, but its a lesser-known fact that people with autism, down syndrome, and fragile X syndrome may also have difficulty with this activity, because it requires balance, coordination, and well-developed motor skills.
Luckily, however, new inventions are coming out every day to help people with autism and other disorders and disabilities do the everyday things they struggle with. One of these is the Hugbike, a tandem bicycle meant for people with autism who have trouble riding a traditional bikebut it can help people with a wide range of other disorders and disabilities as well.
The Hugbike setup allows the person in the front to feel safe and hugged by the person in the back. A traditional tandem bicycle, in contrast, would only allow a person with autism or a disability to sit on the back seat, where they cant be as protected or monitored by the driver.
Check out the Hugbike below. Is this a bicycle idea you can get on board with?
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Special Needs Bikes Trikes And Trailers: Enjoying Bike Riding With Your Child
It is that time of year where everyone is looking for fun activities to do outdoors. A favorite past time for many, especially kids, is bike riding. For many children with special needs bike riding doesnt come easily. Having to coordinate steering, pedaling and balancing is often a difficult task for most children to begin with. Children with Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, autism spectrum disorder or other similar conditions may never be able to ride a two wheeler on their own.
However an adaptive bike will allow you and your child to enjoy bike riding together. There are a number of really good options out there, the key is finding the solution that works best for you and your child. While Lighthouse Autism Center doesnt endorse any one particular brand or device over another, here are a few that we thought might be helpful based on reviews. These range in prices go from under a hundred dollars up to $7,000.
Skuut Wooden Balance Bikes
This is a wooden bike for kids and is ideal for helping children learn to steer, maintain balance, and improve coordination and independence. The bike doesnt have any pedals or training wheel. Parents looking for a bike to help build bike riding skills before trying a traditional two wheeler can find it on Amazon. Prices vary between $60 and $70. Ideal for kids between the ages 2-5.
Buddy Bikes
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How Cycling Helps Children With Autism
According to the World Health Organization, about 1 in 160 children worldwide are afflicted with autism spectrum disorder . Depending on the severity of the illness, a child suffering from autism can be prone to a number of physical challenges, including issues with balance and body awareness, or proprioception, in addition to the more common social interaction and cognitive problems, such as difficulties with attention and concentration.
Treatment for children with these disabilities usually includes occupational therapy to improve skills enabling people to become more independent and participate in a wide range of activities that are taken for granted by people without autism. These programs generally focus on play skills, learning strategies and self-care. Though not yet in wide use, the teaching of bicycle riding is being increasingly used to address the learning and physical difficulties of autistic children.
Because of challenges with balance and coordination, many children with ASD never learn to ride a bike. However, a study carried out in 2015 found that autistic children were able to significantly improve their physical stability after five weeks of regular training on a no-pedal balance bike.
Interestingly, according to one ASD sufferer, cycling is the ideal exercise for people with autism. Patrick McCallister was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome in 1993. He says in a blog that autism and cycling go hand-in-hand.
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Why We’re Doing It
AdaptAbility believes that the improvement of physical health, self-esteem, and independence can be achieved with the use of a bicycle. Now with adaptive bicycles, individuals living with disabilities can experience all the different uses that a bicycle can offer. AdaptAbility is providing the opportunity to individuals with disabilities to experience this creation and make it part of their life. Individuals with disabilities will take advantage of exercise, while improving their mobility, improving muscle strength, experiencing the outdoors in a completely different way and commuting in short distances all this with the use of an adaptive bicycle. Our program will be providing an opportunity to remove barriers by increasing different ways of transportation and reducing pollution.
Child Seats For Older Children
Most child bike seats are designed for kids up to about 4 years in age, but it is possible to get several seats for older children. The Yepp Junior Budget is designed for ages 5-10 years and comes with foot stirrups and a fairly good chest strap. Mum Kez told us Our son has ASD and dyspraxia so I always looks at safely holding him into his seat as our first priority. The Yepp is a nice sturdy seat and is easy to fit.
Several things to consider when using a seat with an older child are your ability to handle the extra weight and the impact the child will have on balance and stability. Kez again At 21kg my son really changes the balance and stability of the bike. Its fine on off-road cycle routes, but on the road can be tricky, especially when theres a lot of potholes.
The Yepp Junior Budget retails from £ 65 and is
Another possible choice is the Bobike Junior Seat which has similar features.
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Disability Bikes & Trikes Faq
Are you an NDIS registered provider?
Yes we are registered to provide assistive technology according to the certification issued by NDIS commissionOur NDIS provider number is contained on this website and is included in all our quotes and invoices.
Do you have preferred occupational therapists or physiotherapists with whom you work?
No, we are happy to work with any allied health team or other professional who requires guidance on the suitability of our range for a number of different conditions. We are happy to work with allied health teams or individuals and will provide insight into the bike/trike aspects for a specific needWe are not health professionals ourselves
Can we just turn up and do a trial of your range?
In theory, yes, but we do prefer to take bookings to make sure we have the space, the range and the resources to help you get the most out of the trialOur preferred way is for you to discuss the trial with your support team, to identify a couple of options for the time and date of the trial and then to make contact with us. We can then confirm if we have availability of staff and/or equipment to optimise your time onsite
Can you do trials in other locations besides your shop?
Do you import specialised equipment yourselves?
What’s the difference between a electric trike and a mobility scooter?
With our electric tricycles you get a large basket on the rear able to carry lots of shopping and a trike that is a lot more fun to ride than a mobility scooter.
Trailer Bike Or Tagalong For Children With Special Needs
For some children a trailer bike or taglong is a great option. They have the freedom of pedaling whilst being pulled along behind an adult bike, and can coast along when they get tired. There are a number of different options available, although most tend to just have a regular bike seat.
If your child needs more support, its worth looking at the two different models of the Weehoo bike trailers, which are suitable for up to age 9 . The lower spec is the Weehoo iGo Turbo and the higher spec is the Weehoo iGo Venture which comes with a rack and large panniers for carrying everything you need on your trip out. Foot straps on the pedals and the adjustable 3-point harness with chest buckle help keep the child secure during the ride. Hand grips give children something to hold on to and the sprocket and chain are enclosed to keep little fingers grease free and away from harm. Canopy and rain cover accessories are sold separately.
The Weehoo Venture costs £426 from Halfords
Remember that youll need to be able to balance the bike and trailer bike when you get off to then help your child out, which is why youll note the bike stand in the picture above. You can also buy a kickstand for the Weehoo trailer.
There is also a two seater version available if you need to transport two children by bike.
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Customizing Your Ride With Ferla
In addition to decking it out with accessories, your Ferla Family Cargo Bike can be customized in a number of ways. The Royce Edition, which is an elevated model featuring optional drop-back doors was originally designed as a custom model to help out a customer with disabilities. Now this model, once a special bike for disabled people, is one of our most popular offerings.
Available at an elevated, luxury price on our website, we realize that The Ferla Family Cargo Bike – Royce Editions doors mean a lot more to its original riders. To help make riding more accessible for individuals with disabilities and their families Ferla offers the added Royce Doors for FREE to those who identify as having disabilities, special needs, and being differently abled.
We believe in offering the best and most thoughtful features we can to help make the world a better place. Everyone deserves fresh air, exercise, and emissions-free travel, and the Royce Edition, as well as our signature base model Ferla Family Cargo Bike are here to help facilitate that belief in the most effective way possible.
Conversations are key, and we are here to answer any and all questions people have about our adaptive bikes for special needs and how they can serve specific individuals various needs. Please contact our team with any thoughts, questions, or requests regarding a bicycle for disabled.
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Balance Bikes For Older Kids
Some children are able to master using a balance bike, but cannot manage the transition to pedals. A larger sized balance bike allows them the freedom of being on two wheels and are great for a variety of different terrains.
Strider Bikes have a 16 wheel balance bike for kids aged about 6 to 12 years , and a 20 wheel balance bike that will continue to grow with your child into adulthood.
Both the Strider 16 and the Strider 20are available from Strider directly in the US and retail from $200.
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Take It One Step At A Time
Children with autism can be easily overwhelmed, so you need to be more careful in giving too many instructions while your child is learning. Wait until your child understands your instructions and give guidance as needed.
Have a clear step-by-step plan on what you want your child to do. It might not always work perfectly, but at least you are able to instill a sequence of actions that your child might be able to remember, as most children with autism often do well.
Autism And Riding A Bike
I get a surprising number of inquiries about this. Ever since I posted a photo of my son riding our adaptive bike, people ask me what it is and where we got it.
First, lets start by saying, just because a child has autism, does not mean that they cannot ride a bike or need an adaptive bike. But, we do know that many autistic children have low muscle tone and different interoception which may affect bike riding.
Our bike was on loan to us from his school during the pandemic. I have a love/hate relationship with it. I mean, we can ride it and its perfect for him. However, the thing is a beast and it weighs a ton. My son is also 15 and over 100 lbs.
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Will Insurance Pay For An Adaptive Bike
I dont think so. You can try. But youre going to have to demonstrate that its a necessity for health reasons. Not impossible, but difficult for sure. Talk with your childs pediatrician and perhaps their Physical Therapist to see if they have had success doing this.
Another option is to start asking around about grants and funding from community groups. Many times civic groups will fund something like this. Or, try Make-A-Wish to see if you qualify. I know many families who have gotten treehouses and trampolines and outdoor playsets from Make a Wish.
Good luck and happy riding!
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