My 8 yr old cannot tie his shoes or ride his bike - he does play sports & is smart in school - any suggestions

well, he seems to do most things an 8 yr old does but he can%26#039;t or won%26#039;t tie his shoes or ride his bike without training wheels. he is very smart and I wonder if he needs ot to help him with these issues ..he also does not use scissors correctly..instead of cutting counter clock wise he struggles with cutting in the opposite direction...ot is not offered in school as it is not affecting his learning abilities ... any advice?%26quot;ot = occupational therapy%26quot;

My 8 yr old cannot tie his shoes or ride his bike - he does play sports %26amp; is smart in school - any suggestions
Encourage teaching with teaching. Make it a game. Let him teach you something, either that he learned in school, or some other skill he mastered, then let it be your turn and try and teach him something. If he gets frustrated or uninterested push only slightly and then stop and try again later.


He may feel %26quot;stupid%26quot; feeling that he doesn%26#039;t know things that other kids his age do. Sometimes kids will rebel against something they aren%26#039;t good at. Reassure him, and also try incentives (new spiderman shoe or something if he can tie his shoes 2 days in a row)
Reply:THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR GREAT ANSWERS....I AGREE WITH THE VOTERS , LENAE WAS PROBABLY THE BEST ADVICE RECEIVED ON THE BOARD ALTHOUGH I MUST SAY MANY RESPONDERS HAD SOME VERY GOOD THOUGHTS TOO! THANKS AGAIN Report It

Reply:Practice Practice Practice. Repetitiveness is how young children learn. Children like adults have their weaknesses. Some are good in Math and Spelling, while others are good in Geography and History or Science. Some are good in sports and some aren%26#039;t. These are just some manuverable skills he just hasn%26#039;t mastered yet. Be patient and keep trying.
Reply:youre right he may need occupational and/or physiacl therapy. consult your pediatrician and get it prescribed and the school will provide it free of charge.
Reply:Perhaps he%26#039;s left handed?
Reply:bring him to the pediatrician to explore these concerns !!
Reply:well get him on some nice soft grass, and take the training wheels off, and run around with him.





he%26#039;ll fall but he%26#039;ll be ok





after 3 hours of that he%26#039;ll be a pro





and as far as the sneakers go, he%26#039;ll learn





get him the slip ons for now, they are pretty popular





and scissors? could be he%26#039;s a lefty
Reply:Thats totaly normal! When its nice out, you should practice for a couple days until he gets it down. It took me almost a month and I was either 7 or 8. For the shoe tying, there are a few books that you can use to practice, or just have someone practice with him. Hope this helps!
Reply:I agree with Chris O%26#039;s answer. My son also has problems with fine motor skills, such as writing, tying shoes, drawing, cutting with scissors, etc. He is also dyslexic. The 2 problems are almost definitely related. Your pediatrician should be able to tell you if he should be tested for these problems. Good luck to you and your son.
Reply:I can tell you want what%26#039;s best for your son - good for you!





The tying the shoes and cutting are probably fine motor skills that have not developed yet. Is his handwriting really atrocious, too? I think %26#039;probably%26#039; he just needs some time to mature, esp since his grades are good.





There is actually a learning disability that these things would fit. I believe it is called dispraxia and it is related to dyslexia. Have there been some other little things that you have wondered about but didn%26#039;t bother mentioning? Maybe if you looked up dispraxia you could see if it relates to your son or not.
Reply:Work with him on it. Or get Dad, grandma or a friend to help him learn. Maybe he doesn%26#039;t want you to help him...but be patient, he%26#039;ll get it.
Reply:You might want to have him tested for Aspergers%26#039; Syndrome.





He may not need OT, just understanding.
Reply:hit im on the head and yell learn how to ride a bick and tie your shoes dumbass!
Reply:it does sound like a case for OT. he sounds like he especially needs help with fine motor skills. Ask for a referral and get him into it as soon as possible
Reply:my 8 year cant tie his laces, or ride his bike, but its nothing to worry about. all kids have there special talent and something they are good at. just keep showing him without the pressure. as long as he%26#039;s doing OK at school and the teachers aren%26#039;t worried then you needn%26#039;t be.
Reply:Some kids dont catch on quickly to things and need some time to learn hes not stupid or anything its just like...its like math you get one thing and then you dont understand the other





♥Rachael♥
Reply:I%26#039;m not sure what programs are out but my 5yr old has some of the same problems and he doesn%26#039;t talk very well. They tested him at the beginning of the school year and sent him a referrel to a local doctor. Talk to your family doctor or call a local pediatrician, they can test him for motor skills and give you the right numbers.
Reply:I did not learn how to ride a bike or tie my shoes until I was 9... not kidding.





I have no idea why this was. I was always really good in school. I always made good grades, was well-behaved, made friends easily, and was very diligent.





He%26#039;ll learn. Just spend some extra time on the things he has trouble with. Try making it fun. For example, I didn%26#039;t learn how to tie a bow by learning on my shoes. I learned how when my mom dumped out a big box of ribbons and let me play with them. Good luck!
Reply:I think that you may be correct in your hunch that he may need OT. I am a speech-language pathologist in an elementary school and I often work with children who also have OT issues. Your child should be able to ride his bike and tie his shoes by age 8. I am curious, how is his handwriting? Often school OT services are provided for difficulties with writing since that does affect a child%26#039;s ability to pariticipate educationally. You should check with your pediatrician about your concerns and see if s/he has any advice or OT resources. Good luck to you.
Reply:My 10 year old won%26#039;t tie his shoes correctly. For him it%26#039;s just hard so he doesn%26#039;t like it so he doesn%26#039;t practice. He can easily and quickly manuever tiny buttons on tamagotchis and video games so it isn%26#039;t his fine motor...it%26#039;s choosing to avoid something unpleasant. He ties his shoes in his own weird way and it works for us. When you say your son is very smart...do you mean identified gifted or do you mean very bright? Either way, both of those have a lot of trouble handling failure and unpleasantness so they avoid it when necessary unless the process alone is thrilling enough (for mine it%26#039;s video games and skateboarding that are worth the failures).





I would work with him a little on the scissors issue since that is an essential skill. Maybe he would like some left handed scissors instead? You never know. Also he needs to tie his shoes for safety...but why does it have to be the usual way? Mine does this thing where he wraps laces around his ankle and ties from there. I don%26#039;t care as long as it does the job!





I think the world has a real problem these days with the %26quot;overdisordering%26quot; of people%26#039;s differences and %26quot;meducation%26quot; instead of education. Schools are pressured by accountability and strong desire for conformity and the medical community has to biologize everything due to HMOs and the reality of health care moving from an altruistic service to just another product to sell.





Just because a difference is not common does not automatically mean that someone is diseased or has a disorder. Hey - maybe they are just very different! Novel thought.





I would recommend working with him on essential skills or finding someone who will work with him on individual skills without categorizing him as disabled or trying to diagnose some bigger disease. The other stuff, don%26#039;t sweat it if he isn%26#039;t and if others interfere, tell them to back off and stop making your kid feel bad for being an individual and not a sheep.





Some kids just favor the bigger picture and grand ideas and don%26#039;t sweat the small stuff.
Reply:have him tested for manual dexterity and muscle problems some boys develop slowly in this area and it is not a problem others need help
Reply:This is pretty normal for an 8 year-old. I learned how to ride a bike at 7 or 8, using 2 wheels, then 1 wheel, then no training wheels at all, and tying my shoes until 12 years old ( I tied them differently) ! About cutting things the wrong way, simply tell him how to cut and hold with scissors, even if he doesn%26#039;t like it, remind him every time he starts cutting something, he will start to figure out it%26#039;s better for him.
Reply:I never wanted to ride a bike either without training wheels, i was afriad... until i saw that my cousin could do it. Wanting to be like her, and wanting to be able to do the things that she could do made me change my mind. She even helped teach me how to ride a 2-wheeler.





for tying his shoes, point out that as soon as he hits a growth spurt, they wont make velcro any more and he will have to learn sometime. I learned by tying a string around a book.





Kids want to do things that people they look up to can do. If he plays sports.... get him to learn by playing soccer with him or baseball or something that requires cleats, and ask him to show you how to tie them up
Reply:He must want someone to still help him with those things, like a security that he still needs mom dad or grandma, grandpa to help with them. eventually he will do them on his own.
Reply:Don%26#039;t worry to much, my 7 year old can%26#039;t tie his shoelaces either and my older son didn%26#039;t learn to ride a bike until he was about 10 years old.



skin problems