Below is a paraphrased portion from the book I just read entitled Changing the Course of Autism by Bryan Jepson, MD:
A boy with severe autism wanted to learn how to ride a bike. After watching others for a period of time, he ventured off to try. Instead of learning the conventional way, the first thing he did was pick up the bike and fall off of it. He did this over and over again. Eventually after practicing how to fall, he picked up the bike and started pedaling, and never fell off again.
"[He] is teaching us something about life. He wanted to ride a bike, even though he was afraid of falling. So he practiced how to fall until his fear was gone. Many of us are so afraid of falling that we never get on that bike."
I really enjoyed this story especially after a complex read. This book was probably written with physicians more in mind, but I really enjoyed it--except for the biological mumbo jumbo. I was never good at microbiology--or stuff on the cellular level. If I can't see it, (I'm a visual learner) then it doesn't exist. (This is where faith comes into play).
I hope this summer the boys will learn how to ride bikes. Their coordination isn't quite up to par, but the OT's said they'd work on it.
I am hoping that my son will learn to ride a bike soon as well. Our challenge here is that we don't have a good place to ride, just a bit of space in the driveway. It will be different to see a 9 year old with training wheels!
ReplyDeleteHere is another Mom whose son just learned to ride a bike, it's a great story! http://autismschmatism.blogspot.com/2008/04/after-3-weeks-and-2-days.html
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