Momentum - Asperger's and Learning to Ride a Bicycle

Learning to ride a bike can be a daunting goal for any kid, let alone a kid with Asperger's. Issues with coordination and balance can get in the way of each little success, and for those who tend to be anxious, the fear of falling, not succeeding, being teased by peers, doing a face-plant off the front of the bike, getting one's shoelaces tangled in the pedals, having a blowout doing 70, forgetting how to use the handlebars, snakes suddenly popping up from holes in the pavement, tipping over and unexpected elephants attacks can add to the worry of clearing such a momentous hurdle.

It's easy when you're a little kid. The chance of wiping out on a 3-wheeler on a flat black top are like, WAY less than for a stylish young lady learning to balance and control a 2-wheeler.

Bike riding can be as much of a right of passage for parents as it is for kids! It's another one of those things... when all the moms are talking about their kids and it comes up that your kid doesn't know how to ride a bike yet at age 8. Do you launch into a lengthy explanation about the psychological and physiological differences in children in the autism spectrum, or do you do what I do and just say, "Eh... the fact that she can't ride a bike yet is a simple reflection of the poor parenting skills we possess. We're cool with it." ??   (You should see the looks I get with that one... )
*insert maniacal giggle-fit here*

The first attempts, while exciting, also proved frustrating...

So Daddy stepped in for a short pep-talk.

And though no snakes popped up unexpectedly from the warm pavement, the task at hand seemed very upsetting for poor Iraq. Her own inability to instantly be able to ride a bike like Lance Armstrong resulted in a fair amount of frustration.

But after a short break to soothe her overstimulated senses... (and after mom hopped on the small "Barbie" bike for a very short, circus-esque trip across the blacktop to the sound of giggles and applause from her admiring audience) Iraq was ready to give it one more try.

The sweet taste of success propelled her around and around the blacktop, and when she was ready to stop, the bike was all but forgotten as she ran to her daddy for a huge victory hug!

 

And The Skink thought it was pretty cool, too!

May you make lofty goals and far surpass your greatest expectations without becoming too overstimulated along the way!

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No Words and Tons of Pictures - Memorial Day Fun!

 

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Truths

 "I don't want to!" when screamed in a snotty voice, is still a 4-word sentence and therefore counts toward communication goals.

If a 4-year-old takes off her clothes and finger-paints with the  contents of her diaper, it should be counted as 2 O/T exercises.

In our house, NOT stealing something from a friend or from the store is "progress!"

Mommy's sanity is often contingent upon the length of nap time and the presence of an entertaining children's movie within that same time period.

If at first you don't succeed, scream, cry, blame it on everyone else and then make it your personal mission to kick that goal into submission!

God makes children cute so they all don't mysteriously go missing after a particularly bad tantrum.

A good dog can help you lower your blood pressure. A bad dog can help you lower your home value.
 (We feel VERY lucky to have a VERY good dog!)

Looking at things in black and white is fine as long as you happen to be looking at photos or old movies. Learning to rejoice in the millions of colors and varieties around us each day is the key to acceptance.

When life hands you lemons you have two choices. You can cut them all up and rub them in your eyes, scream in pain and make everyone else around you miserable too... or you can find 1,000,000 recipes that require lemons because everyone knows life just tastes better with a dash of lemon!

Pears are not lemons, but that doesn't make them inferior to lemons. Each has its own flavor and each is created to flourish in a different climate.

Now I want to hear what truths you have learned from parenthood or from life in general! Leave me a comment with your own pearls of wisdom :o)


And the winner of the Loopeez is...


Comment #1: Kim
I would love to when a set of loopeez. So here it goes, 3 things I love about May:
1. Sunshine
2. Kids playing outside after a long winter
3. Planting a garden

Kim- please email me at lil_red_xlr8r@hotmail.com with your mailing information and which Loopeez you want. Congratulations!

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How To Tie Your Shoes - and a Give Away!

Nearly a year ago, I posted about working with Iraq to teach her to tie her lace-up shoes. Though she was able to tie them once or twice, she simply didn't catch on and then refused to even wear her lace-up shoes.

I'm glad to announce that this post is proudly brought to you by the daily adventures of my crazy amazing family and by our newest sponsor, Loopeez!

Shoe tying can be very frustrating for a kid with Aspergers, Down syndrome or with fine motor issues. Many kids in the autism spectrum have fine-motor delays. While Iraq's hand writing has started to become legible with practice, she tends to avoid activities that require fine-motor coordination. This is why the majority of her Barbie dolls are stripe-4$$ nekid all the time. She can undress them, but lacks the coordination to put all those teeny-tiny dresses and shoes back on. Now that they live in the downstairs (basement) playroom, I'm thinking those poor, nekid Barbies may be a bit chilly in their current state of undress.

Anyhooo -

The other day... like the day after our big, crazy moving madness, I received an email from Courtney with Loopeez. When I paid a visit to the Loopeez website, it took me about a second (possibly less) to see how this product could ease the challenge of shoe tying for Iraq and in a year or so, for The Skink! I have (finally) gotten around to opening our new Loopeez and caught the whole Loopeez experience with my camera (me? take pictures? who would have guessed?).

Iraq was excited about the pink butterfly Loopeez we were sent! First, she crossed her shoelaces - that was the only step she truly mastered in our prior shoe tying training sessions.

Then I showed her how to loop the laces into bunny-ears and poke them through the Loopeez.

After that I demonstrated how to take the bunny-ears, cross them, push one under the other and pull tight... and then it was her turn...

And just like that, Iraq tied her own shoe! And look at the excitement on her face!

Of course then there was no stopping her! She did the second shoe all by herself!

Even putting the laces through the Loopeez.

Look at the pride on her face    : D

(And she even made me help her untie the first shoe just so she could do it again!)

High Five!

I'm thrilled beyond words! Iraq is ecstatic! I'm sure if her shoes could talk, they'd be pretty pleased also. I should mention that the kind folks at Loopeez even sent us an extra set of shoelaces with our Loopeez. Iraq doesn't transition well to change (not sure if I've mentioned that...          in this post) so we haven't change her laces yet. I'm sure we will (someday) when she gets used to the idea.



Is that the face of success, or what?

So... who wants a neat tool that will help your child(ren) learn to tie their shoes? Since I can't see how many of you are raising your hand, you'll have to leave a comment. On Saturday, May 28, 2011 I will use random.org to determine which lucky commenter will receive a set of Loopeez! To make it even more fun and interesting, tell me the 3 things you love best about the month of May! Good luck and happy shoe-tying!

 Enjoy this blog? Let me know by voting on TopMommyBlogs! 

Follow the link and scroll down until you find Adasperdown Town.

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