Tying shoes | Autism PDD
I am SURE he can do it. I tried for the longest time to teach my son... and even with my elementary ed and special ed degrees, I could not teach my own son to tie his shoes. I give full credit for that to his angel of an OT, he was so lucky to have her, I will always be grateful.
I noticed on another post that someone said they couldn't get their child to start tying shoes.
We have been working on this with ds. I have one book that has two methods - the rocket method and the bunny ears method. I don't care for either, but ds likes the pictures of the rocket and loves space, so this is helping him want to learn. He's not OVERLY enthusiastic, but I can get him to work on it for a few minutes a day.
We started years ago in OT with making the "X". He has known this for a long time. He is doing pretty good with crossing over and under and then pulling the laces tight. Yesterday we started working on the first bow.
My goal is to have him tying shoes by the end of kindergarten. A lot of kindergarteners don't know how - but that doesn't mean we shouldn't start with our kids until then!
We are just taking it one step at a time. I figure we will be working on getting to the first bow for about another two weeks - maybe more. Just a few minutes a day and lots of positive encouragement.
I think breaking it up into several steps and working ONLY on one step for several weeks is key. We aren't going to actually follow the rocket method (he's not reading yet and the picture directions aren't terribly clear in my opinion). We're going to do the traditional method. I think he can do it.
Stay tuned! We only use velcro shoes, so I've focused on other goals for the meantime. But in the current issue of the SPD Companion they gave these three tips (elsewhere on their site they indicate that having trouble tying shoes is expected if the child has proprioceptive dysfunction):
1. Take two different colored shoe laces and tie them together. The therapist can then use the two different colors to cue the child.
2. Have the child practice tying on his/her thigh so he/she can see the process better.
3. Practice dressing and tying skills with learn to dress dolls, cubes, and/or boards and puzzles.
Here's a social story about tying shoes, but it's more about the necessity of the skill and having a positive attitude, not actual technique.
http://www.frsd.k12.nj.us/autistic/Social%20Stories/Pages/sh oes.htm
Neither of my boys can tie shoes. I've been lazy about it because they don't ever wear shoes with laces. They live in their Keens and their Crocs. Even their gym shoes (which they haven't worn since school ended) are pull on. I guess with them going into 1st grade they should know this. I'll have to start working on it - ugh, one more thing to do.I think that I am the poster of the shoe lace thing.
My Ty will wear shoes when he realizes that sandals are for summer. And when we get home from the BEACH, summer is over.
He'll get it, as with every thing else with him. He either gets it sooner or later than other kids.
I am only proud of Him when I am living. I live all of the time. Funny thing, I taught my oldest Nt/son how to tie his shoes using the
bunny ears method and he still ties his shoes that way. He and my
friends little boy (age 9) are the only kids that I know who ties their shoes
that way. (I also taught my friends little boy). My five year old just learned
to tie his shoes.It took a while but these are the steps that we used. He
did better with this method. I first used a black lace on one side of the
shoe and a white lace on the other side. We then used one lace for the
whole shoe.
1. pulls laces after he puts shoes on
2.he crosses right lace over left lace and pinches the laces
3.he grabs lace with his right hand and puts the lace over and through
the hole
4.he pulls the laces.
5.he drops right lace and pinches the left lace with the left hand, uses
right index finger and wraps lace around finger and pinches bottom of
lace to make a big loop.
6.he grabs right lace with right hand and crosses lace on top of left loop
and pinches laces with left thumb.
7.he grabs black lace and tuck the lace with index finger through the hole
8. he pulls both loops.
It is not as complicated as it sounds and he learned it step by step.
I've heard great things about "Red Lace, Yellow Lace" But I don't like the bunny ears method - which is what I'm talking about when you make two loops and then tie them together. I'm going to try him on the conventional method first. We're just taking it REALLLLY slow right now. My goal is to have him know how by the end of kindergarten - that's almost a whole year! And he's getting the first third of it at least.
The book we have also has two different colors of laces - I've heard that's EXTREMELY important for helping them to learn.
I may still get that book and revise the method. JessicaO if you get a chance, I would love to know how you revised it. But, take your time - we've got all year!
Snoopywoman-I will be at that house tomorrow, I should be able to grab the book while I'm there (I don't think he needs it anymore! He tied his shoes independently on friday!) We just changed a couple of lines of the poem, unfortunately, unless you take your own pictures I have no help there. :) I will post it as soon as I get the chance.
One book that I've found VERY helpful is the book "Red Lace, Yellow Lace", it's got a great rhyme that's easy to learn (red lace, yellow lace look what you can do, put a smile on your face, learn to tie your shoe!), and it breaks it down step by step. It does the method where you make two loops and tie them together, but you can edit it easily (I can get the book from the house it's at to see what I changed if anyone wants to know), to do the method where you make one loop then pull the other lace through the "bunny hole".
The book is the size of a clipboard, and only the top half is the actual book, the bottom half is a "shoe" with removeable laces. And you've guessed it, the laces are red and yellow. It's essentially a perfect ABA breakdown of shoe tying. Here's a link to the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Red-Lace-Yellow-Mark-Casey/dp/08120655 30
Good Luck!
I wouldnt worry too much,
Sarah didnt tie shoes till she actually had the motivation to learn how..I got the heavy board book with a built in red lace and yellow lace with page by page instruction..it took her forever to do it but she learned.
I went to help out with the kindergarten field day the last week of school and most of the sports/races they did had to be with no shoes or one shoe off...NONE of this kids could tie their laces when it came time to put their shoes back on..
I was constantly bending down to them all day...my back was killing me that night!
Preschool power has vhs's that show how to tie shoes, put on jackets, make snacks and crafts..ect..look at your local library for them. Sarah loved them and had to do whatever they did:) Really cute kids modeling all the skills:)
21 and i still cant tie my shoes 
i dont know if its a lack of motor coordination or not but i just cant i would gain the ability and if i didnt do it everyday i would lose it
kind of like a computer that if you didnt hit save on several times it would crash and you would lose the information.
so i use special laces my mom got a few years back at red wing shoe store they are easy and cool looking 
however even though i have difficulty with the shoes i still have no problem tieing trash bags when i m taking out the trash at work which is good
( im a janitor)
good luck to your little guy snoopywoman im sure he will be tieing in no time 
I like the idea of the songs - that REALLY helps my ds learn things, I know. I remember when he was barely 3, he could remember the days of the week, months of the year because of songs.
Shelley - I will definitely check out the Preschool Power videos - for more than just tying shoes!
Just a note to all you super-smart parents, our OT currently uses the "traditional" (not bunny ear) method, and uses 2 different colored laces. I did not find the red and yellow lace poem, but did stumble across 2 others.FWIW, I think songs and poems are a very effective learning tool for most kids with ASD.
(I don't know how helpful these particular ones are, but hey, every little bit helps when you are trying to teach something)
Teepee Tying
Build a tee pee
Come inside
Close it tight so we can hide
Over the mountain
And around we go
Here’s my arrow
And here’s my bow!
Criss Cross Tying Shoes
(tune: Splish Splash I was taking a Bath)
Criss Cross and go under the bridge
Then you got to pull it tight.
Make a loop but keep a long tail
That is how to do it right
Then you take the other string
and you wrap it ’round the loop
Pull it through the hole
Now you got the scoop
David mentions an excellent tool for those of you who have not seen them, there are these really cool shoe laces that are all curly and elastic. You lace them through the shoe, then just pull to tighten and they stay that way- no tying.
If you are trying to teach tying- then use regular tie shoes all the time. If you aren't then velcro, slip on, or twistie laces are excellent options.
Thanks rainman! We just keep talking about practice. It took him a long time to learn how to pedal a tricycle, but now he is riding a bicycle without training wheels (some problems still with steering and getting started though!). So, he is starting to realize that he can do things if he practices hard. Same with swimming - he isn't fully swimming yet, but he is practicing very hard and making progress with each lesson!
Thanks again for all of the encouragement everyone!
I would think that using tie shoes would get frustrating. I figured learning in steps on the book - and then working up to wearing tie shoes would be best. Ds would get very frustrated, I think, wearing tie shoes and I think all his motivation for learning would go out the window. The rocket book is motivating him to work a few minutes each day. But, I think once we have mastered the tying on the book - we will move to wearing tie shoes every day.
In kindergarten, they specifically asked us to NOT send the kids in tie shoes unless they have completely mastered the skill. Otherwise, the teachers would be tying shoes all day! They asked the same for easy-on clothes - buttons that snap easy, etc. This if for ALL kids as my son will be totally mainstreamed at the public school. I think most kindergarteners are still having difficulty mastering tying shoes - some have it, but I think most struggle at least occasionally.
I remember someone saying nothing says special ed like velcro shoes, and that having our kids learn to tie their own shoelaces and wear lace-up shoes is one way to help them fit as they get bigger.
I'm getting pretty motivated to teach my kids this now! Here are some additional free online resources I've found.
1) Here's a video showing how to tie your shoes the "normal" way.
http://www.rkwest.com/left-handed/?p=55
2) Here's a video showing how to tie your shoes the "bunny" way -- with music! This one looks *extremely* effective.
http://www.rocknlearn.com/html/getting_ready_for_kindergarte n.htm
3) This link has the two rhymes posted above, plus ways to teach it with story-telling, and a suggestion to practice with a jumprope first, so the child can focus on the knot-tying steps and not his/her fine motor skills.
http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/shoes.html
4) Here's a rockin' song (free audio). The lyrics are a little hard to catch. I'll try and find them later.
http://www.musick8.com/html/current_tune.tpl?volumeid=V16_3& amp; amp; amp; amp;tunenum=13
This illustration shoes the steps in the song. If you color the laces two different colors, this could be pretty effective.
http://www.musick8.com/PDF/163TieShoes.pdf
Here are the lyrics, as I hear them:
Make an X
Loop the rear
Pull it tight
Bunny ear
Round his head
Down the hole
Grab the loops
Is your goal
5) Similar stories and poems as #3 above, but with the tip of taking an old shoe and nailing it to a board. That helps the child to focus on the knot-tying steps rather than holding the shoe still.
http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1952.html
6) Parents magazine article on tying shoelaces, with some readiness signs:
http://www.parents.com/preschoolers/learning/preparing-presc hool/skills-for-school/?page=2
Good luck, everyone!
NorwayMom - You are always to be counted on for on-line resources! Thanks so much!
I, too, have heard that about velcro shoes, which is why I'm determined to have ds learn by the end of kindergarten. I figured that velcro shoes are relatively accepted for kindergarten still! But ds is 6 and will be turning 7 at the very end of school (school gets out late here). I figure he should learn by then. His cousing learned at age 4 (which is VERY early, I know). I think the general age is 5-6.
I'm bookmarking this thread for sure - thanks everyone!
I still have trouble tying shoes and when I do, I do it the way my mom taught me...she called bunny ears...but I make two separate loops and tie them together. I never did nor can I now do the over & under thing....like most adults tie shoes. Mostly, now I wear slip on shoes and boots.
I ran across another resource today so I'm bumping this old topic:
http://kidsfashion.about.com/od/doityourselfstyles/tp/kidsti eshoes.htm
A couple other thoughts ...
Do your darnedest to get him tying, if you can, b/c T of the Looooooooong skinny feet OUTGREW the inexpensive velcro sneakers, and had to wear sneakers for PE! Her OT got her going but she did not put all the steps together to accomplish it until we HID all her other shoes. Now, it is automatic, thankfully. Though she'd STILL rather not!
The other thing to try if he has trouble still is "reverse chaining" where you do the first parts and have him FINISH it. Gradually adding in the next-to-last step, etc. It seemed to meet with less resistance form T to say "almost done, now you finish." With her it was more of a power struggle than anything ...
Sean is 14 and still unable to follow the steps to tying his shoes. Colin and Taylor don't either, but Colin is trying hard. Taylor is too--Sean gets shoes now that have the wire-type shoe laces--they dont tie but kinda "knot" at the end cuz of the wire. They sell them almost everywhere. Taylor has them in her shoes as well--Colin can still wear velcro.
When my boy finally decided that he would want to try and learn how to tie his shoes, at 9 years and 4 months of age, He went on You Tube and found several How-To videos on the subject. He was able to pause the videos to work on what he could not figure out. He learned in about 2 days.
We [self, wife, TSS, BSC, and OT person from school] had tried to get him to do this for about 2 years without success. When he WANTED to learn how to do it, it was his way, and he made it easy.
I thought this was an awesome idea.
http://teachmama.com/2011/05/quick-trick-how-to-teach-kids-t o-tie-their-shoes.html
Today I read about elastic laces that don't look babyish -- runners swear by them because they're both more comfortable and don't come untied. If you're still struggling with teaching your kid to tie shoes and don't want to go with velcro, this might be an option.
On this blog several brands were mentioned:
Lock laces
Knotty boy
Grip lace
Lazy lock
Yankz
http://harlemrunner.blogspot.com/2007/10/running-with-proper -shoe-lace.html
I bought Cole Yankz the last month. He was starting to get made fun of
because he still can't tie his shoes. They have been the best thing ever for
him! I am a triathlete and have used the laces while racing. They last forever
and are great.
I get ours at REI for around .DS OT taught him a way to tie his shoes I've never seen before. You tie the first knot as normal than you tie the same knot again. Then you feed the laces back one at a time through the two knots. If you can string beads you can do it. He still has two different color laces, but he can now tie his shoes. It's really cool.
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