Australian company creates recreational cycles for disabled people

From the New Straights Times in Malaysia:

Like the able-bodied, disabled people can suffer from lifestyle diseases such as obesity, heart disease and hypertension due to the lack of physical activity.

“That’s why it is so important to get the disabled to exercise,” said Gareth Isham of Brisbane-based Tempo Tricycles International, manufacturer of rehabilitation, industrial, vending and recreational cycles.

“Cycling, as a form of recreational exercise, is a pleasant way for people with disabilities to get some aerobic activity, build up muscle strength and stamina,” said Gareth.

“If fitted with the right equipment and accessories, such as proper foot, hand and trunk supports, cycling is an ideal exercise for disabled children and adults. The weight is supported on the seat, allowing even the weakest of riders to participate. Bike riding builds the legs, heart, lungs, back and posture. It is one of the few exercise programmes that most disabled people can do.”
Gareth was in Malaysia recently at the Spastic Association of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and the Spastic Association of Johor Baru to promote a tricycle with a T-dual steering system that puts no stress on the carers as they teach a child to ride.

“Children might need a year to learn how to ride independently. Almost every experienced carer has stories of how they did their backs in in trying to teach children how to ride a bike the conventional way,” said Gareth, explaining the reason for the special steering system.

The T-steering (connected to the bike’s front steering) allows the carer to steer the bike from the back, without having to lean over when trying to teach riding the normal way.

The bike allows children who are unable to walk or move by themselves, to enjoy cycling.

At the Spastic Association, some children with this condition had a chance to try the bikes for themselves. Judging from the smiles on their faces, the children enjoyed the liberating feeling of moving around, while assisted by their carers.

Tempo also builds tandems, and bicycle trailers and taxis to cater to the needs of disabled people who can’t pedal with their legs or hands. Tandems are two-seater bikes which are suitable for use where the disabled person is able to paddle. The able-bodied pilot sits in front and does the steering.

Trailers and taxis, meanwhile, are usually attached to the bikes of able-bodied pilots to carry disabled riders who can’t move about on their own.

Gareth initially started off with a regular bike shop but began making bikes for people with disabilities when he received requests for custom-made bikes from parents of disabled children.

“Many parents wanted the bikes for their children either for therapy, or to enable them to join in cycling activities with their family and friends. There was nowhere they could go to get such bikes, so we started to make bikes for people with disabilities. Now, 35 years later, we’ve reached a point where we can almost get everybody with a disability riding, from mildly autistic children to those with cerebral palsy.”

Among the more challenging requests Tempo has received was to build a go-kart for autistic children attending a special school in Sydney.

“The school settled on a go-kart design because they wanted a bike which was a good motivator — all the kids want to ride a go-kart. We were also briefed that it would act as a behaviour modifier, because they wanted to get them to understand the concept of sharing a toy with others, because children with autism are sometimes possessive over the things that they regularly play with. It took six weeks to work out the design specifics because although we knew what they wanted, we didn’t have the bike. We had to build it from scratch.”

Proving to be as challenging to design are requests for motorised bikes from adults with disabilities.

“They were concerned that if they went for a ride and ventured too far, they would be unable to get back home. We’re fitting electric motors on the bikes so that if they get tired, they can still find their way back. Designing the pedals for these motorised bikes is challenging.”