From the Detroit Free Press:

A team led by University of Michigan kinesiology professor Dale Ulrich is working with the charity Lose the Training Wheels to help teach kids with Down syndrome or autism in Ann Arbor how to ride bikes without training wheels.

At the same time, Ulrich is conducting a research study to learn how successful bike riding may affect these kids’ emotions and independence. Other training sessions, minus the research component, are going on across the country this summer.

Just 10 percent of kids with Down Syndrome can ride a bike, and autistic children have similar issues, said Laura Bailey at the University of Michigan News Service. By Wednesday this week, a quarter of the kids were up on two normal wheels. By the end of the five-day program before this one, 62 percent of the kids were riding.

(Free Press, U-M News Service photo)

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 8:13 am and is filed under Down syndrome, autism, disabilities, independent living, quality of life, research news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post