Five-year-old Alec and Oliver Robertson are identical twins, but they’re very different characters.
Alec is an affectionate introvert. Oliver is a boisterous extrovert. They live in Forster, love going to the beach and playing superheroes together. They both have autism, a global developmental delay; Oliver also has profound hearing loss.
Their condition affects their information processing skills and bodily feedback when they try to do things. Bike-riding would be ideal exercise for developing energy and strength, but the boys’ condition affects their ability to climb or ride a bike.
Suzanne, their mother, was beginning to think they’d never be able to ride a bike. She had tried numerous bikes over the years but she would always end up pushing the bike herself.
“… it was heartbreaking. Oliver kept trying but Alec gave up and I never thought it would be a possibility,” Suzanne says.
But then they attended a local Freedom Wheels assessment day.
“It made me cry to watch them ride and actually pedal themselves. My boys fell in love with the bikes! The TAD therapists were so nurturing and understanding and gently explained they’d get their own special bikes when the boys wanted to take home the trial ones,” Suzanne says.
Alec and Oliver are still learning how to ride and hope to join their cousins riding the boardwalk at Forster.
Suzanne says, “for parents who want their kids to ride a bike, Freedom Wheels is a way they can. Don’t give up hope because the customisation may just make the difference.”
