Pretty Neat...

Last year, Ethan's neurologist mentioned that he encourages physical activities for all the children he sees and thought it would be of benefit to Ethan once he gained some weight, strength and had his spinal surgery. I shared this information with Ethan's neurosurgeon and she suggested in addition to swimming we could consider biking. When I asked her how that might work, she advised me that the local children's centre holds bike clinics and have several different options.

As you know, Ethan gained enough weight for surgery (and continued to do so with the occasional slight weight loss), had surgery, recovered from surgery and has built up some muscles as well. Yeah! :)

With that in mind, back in March of 2016, we brought Ethan to a bike clinic with apprehensive thoughts. Clayton and I had different thoughts going into the clinic and it was very interesting to see the options that are available! We talked about the inclusion but inactive options of a Wike - a bike trailer that is specifically made for people with special needs, and then we discussed an active option. They had a bike there which looks like a tricycle that has a high back to it, handle bars that move to allow easier placement on the seat and a push handle at the back which moves the pedals, and user's feet, as the bike is pushed forward. I was looking at it and thought there was no way that Ethan would be able to sit in it without laterals and a headrest. After ruling out most of the bike options that would require him to be able to bike on his own. But we did trial it...

If the cyclist is strong enough, they can also peddle on their own...but Ethan isn't quite there...

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I started to write this post back in March...time just flies these days. It is hard to believe it has almost been a year!

We ended up borrowing the bike in fall and Ethan got really good at maneuvering the handles (especially when he wanted to go home and we tried to walk past the garage) and built more leg muscles. :) He ended up really enjoying his bike rides! Unfortunately, I do not have any of the photos/videos on the computer, but will try to upload one when I get it.