An Albury parent who will ride 5000km across America hopes the road will become the ultimate learning tool for their seven-year-old son.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The trip was always a dream for Travis and Fiona Saunders but it will become a reality on July 10.
Mr Saunders hoped their son, Patrick, or “Patch”, who has autism, would gain a wealth of experience along the way.
The pair had a tandem bike specially made in Germany for the occasion.
Patch will sit in a recumbent position in the front, with Mr Saunders pedalling and steering behind him.
“We were living in the Northern Territory at time when we first picked him up as being on spectrum at 21 months,” Mr Saunders said.
“We spent five years in South Australia doing all different types of therapy - he made really good progress early on.
“After that, he was having difficulties processing and regulating his body.
“His love of movement has prompted us to do this trip across America on a bicycle.
“He is mainly non-verbal, but has the ability to use language when he is motivated.
“He needs high-level motivation, which comes through movement.”
Mr Saunders is an advocate for autism awareness.
He established Run4Autism in 2014, which he started by running 12 marathons in 12 months.
The movement raised in excess of $150,000 for various autism organisations.
Now, he will join his family in a journey from Anacortes, in the north west of America, across the north of the country.
They will pass through the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains before riding through Washington until they hit the east coastline.
Mr Saunders said Patch learned literacy and numeracy through trampolines, piggy back rides and riding horses. The parents will aim to continue his education using the bike movement along the journey.
Above all, Mr Saunders wanted people to know a positive message: “there is nothing we can't do”.
“Patrick over the years has had people presume he is not competent, we have never doubted our son is 100 per cent competent,” he said. “We know he understands what we say, he understands our emotion - when we are upset he gets upset too.
“Not only for our son, but for all children and adults on the autism spectrum, is the message of ‘I can’ - people can achieve things.
“It is all about teaching Patrick, getting him to meet new people and the byproduct of all of that is being able to tell our families story through social media and through making a documentary.” Follow the Saunders’ journey at facebook.com/schooloftheroad.
