Children with a variety of disabilities’ have had success at the camps some of these conditions include down syndrome, mild to moderate autism, mild cerebral palsy, visual impairments, and other developmental delays.
A few basic prerequisites are necessary for success: the child must be ambulatory; the child must have good cardiovascular fitness and the ability to pedal a bicycle for 45 minutes a day for 5 consecutive days; able to keep their feet on the pedals and maintain pedaling; able to keep their hands on the handlebars and turn; able to see sufficiently to avoid obstacles and maintain a path of travel; willing to follow instructions; and motivated to learn to ride. Our experience has shown that behavioral considerations are extremely important a child may be physically able to ride, but if she/he cannot be persuaded to get on the bike and follow our instructions, they may not succeed. We have also found that children 8 years and older tend to do better than younger children, but even more important is how motivated is the child to learn.