Case: Learning to ride a bike in Special Education
For many children in special education, getting to school smoothly is not easy. For their transport, they depend on their parents, their carer, or the school bus. In order to facilitate their journeys, De Fietsschool investigated whether bicycles could also be a solution for some pupils.
Does it manage to cycle to school?
Commissioned by the Mobility and Public Works Department of the Flemish Government, De Fietsschool and Mobiel 21 investigated whether certain children in special education can learn to cycle to school. We examined for which type of pupil cycling could be a viable transport choice, and how best to approach this together with them.
At the same time, De Fietsschool also scrutinised its teaching approach and content. Until now, this approach and content had not been geared to children with disabilities or extra care needs.
Conduct of investigation
Our survey consisted of several phases:
1) General survey
We sent out a survey to over 300 schools in special education. Via the questionnaire, we brought into focus whether pupils cycle, how schools deal with bicycle mobility and where the biggest challenges lie for each type of pupil.
2) Deepening via discussion tables and training
To deepen the survey, we brought teachers together through discussion tables. We zoomed in on the concrete challenges surrounding bicycle mobility and also shared good examples. In addition, the whole team of De Fietsschool and Mobiel 21 followed a training at G-sport Vlaanderen. This way, we got to know the different types of pupils in special education better and got tools to adjust our cycling activities to the needs of people with disabilities.
2) Training, exchange and inspiration
The discussion tables made it clear that cycling piqued the interest of many schools in special education. We therefore organised an inspiration day for teachers. The day consisted of a practical training course Cycling Lessons, how do you do it? from De Fietsschool's training offer and a demonstration session Cycling with adapted bicycles in collaboration with Bike Republic. We also exchanged ideas on topics such as bicycle maintenance, bicycle purchasing, parent involvement, cycling on the street, cycling with autism, and so on. A wonderfully informative day!
Handbook "Learning to ride a bicycle in special education"
During the various research phases, we collected input, insights and inspiring examples from special education. We processed these into the Manual Learning to cycle in special education. Useful for schools that want to give cycling a more prominent place in home-school trips, and at the same time a nice addition to our Manual Cycling Lessons, how to do it?
Approach by type and by person
Our research shows that cycling in special education is not evident for several reasons. Especially for children with autism, thresholds are high.
Nevertheless, quite a few schools indicate that they want to reinforce efforts to make cycling to school easy. This is certainly possible, but requires a targeted, tailor-made approach that takes into account the diversity of pupils in special education, the different types, and the unique situation of each individual pupil.
Want to know more?
Would you like to know more about this study, about cycling mobility among people with disabilities or about the Handbook Learning to cycle in special education?