Locklaces!

Elijah has never learned to tie his shoes. When Jacob was in kindergarten, it was required that he learn to tie his shoes. He worked on it at school and we worked on it at home. Elijah traveled to the Regional Day School Program in another district and they did not require he learn to tie his shoes. We were so busy working on language and doing breathing treatments that we just never got around to teaching him to tie his shoes. I know this sounds like a HUGE excuse, but sometimes other things are more important.

Elijah has been able to get by with Velcro shoes, or the shoes that have laces that are bound at the top with lock that don't require tying. However, as he has gotten older it has gotten harder and harder to find these shoes. Just recently I noticed that he walks and his left foot is leaning in and he is walking more on his arch than on his foot. I decided I needed to find him a good pair of walking shoes, but WHAT would I do about him being able to TIE the shoe.

Many of you may think that I am lazy for not teaching him to tie his shoes. Well, we have had a lot of things that have taken precedent. He has a very low frustration level and gives up easily. Things become a battle with him that escalate into rages and major behavior issues. This is a battle, that I just don't want to fight then OR now.

I called my brother, Jerry, because he had told me about something he had bought to help him tie his shoes. He has cerebral palsy and can only use one hand. He also had never been able to tie his shoes. He found me a link for Locklaces and I ordered a set. They came in the other day, so Elijah and I went out to buy him some shoes. The young man at Dick's sporting good helped us find a pair of shoes that fit him and we brought them home. I read the instruction and got the Locklaces in the shoe. It was easy to lace the shoe and set up the Lock part of it. They are elastic laces and hold these shoe on tightly. I then had Elijah wear the shoes, so I could see how tight he needed them. The laces come really long and you cut them to what you need. I watched him walk around in the shoes and noticed a HUGE improvement in how he walked.

Dick's sells the Locklaces, but they only had neon green, neon orange and neon pink. I was glad I had ordered the white ones online. However, this limited our shoe selection, because we needed shoes that look good with white laces. The white laces did have some black lines in them and the shoes look good! I think next time he needs shoes, I will wait and get the shoes first and then order the laces, unless we find them at the store. My brother told me the laces he has have lasted a year!