Shoelaces

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How old were you when you learned how to tie your shoelaces?

I was always clumsy as a child, I had problems with performing some more difficult tasks when I was expected to use my hands with precision (fortunately it isn't my problem any more). Anyway, my mother was never patient enough to let me do things in my own temp so every time she saw I was dealing with a task of this sort, she simply did it herself.

I remember I was 8 when finally I got this ability if my memory serves me well. But for many years I couldn't tie them tight enough which again resulted in mom's dealing with my shoelaces and it was so even 5 years ago.

It's soooo embarrassing! I think I had issues with shoe laces and it took me a while to figure it out. I feel so stupid for that:(
Oh, and my cousin, who is a couple years younger than I learned to tie shoe laces early so by the time my mom divorced my dad and we moved back here, my cousin was already blissfully tieing her shoes with ease. She had a competitive drive since she had a slightly older sibling. I didn't share this drive so I was lazy about learning these kinds of things.

She was two at the time and already tieing her shoes:(
I was four and still having trouble with it. Haha, I did learn eventually, but I don't remember my exact age. I do recall having trouble learning it though.

I've just read some discussion posted on a forum for parents. It concerned an average age of getting said ablity. One participant of it said she and her siblings were already able to do it when they were as young as 3, other mothers mentioned their kids tied their shoelaces when they were 5, 6. One user was a bit shocked that in class her 7 years old son attends many pupils still can't do this on their own while they're expected to wear such shoes in P.E. which in practice means first 10 minutes of this lesson are wasted because their teacher must help those who can't do it.

I taught myself to tie my shoes and I was like... 4 or 5 or something.

Where I work there are about 2 kids of ages 6-7 regular ed that can tie their shoelaces sometimes. (Rest = cannot at all!)

Urgh, parents: Try velcro.

Teachers aren't there to tie your kids' laces.

I didn't pick it up until I was 10 . I just tied my laces in knots around my ankle until then, or I simply got my parents to double knot my shoes and I'd slip them on daily without untying.
My dad tried to teach me the "loop, wrap & pull" method, but I couldn't follow what he was doing. He only tried to teach me once or twice
Then one day in 5th grade, I saw my friend tie them the other way (the bunny ears method). I picked it up straight away.
Why didn't my dad show me that way!?

i tend to not wear shoes

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWL1md7D ... re=related.

Well, to me it was showed too fast.

When I attended kindergarten it wasn't a big deal to me I had problems with this because in that time a distant cousin of mine worked there and every time we were taken for a walk she used to help me with my shoes. I was taught by my mom how to do it on my own but I couldn't follow her instructions for a long time though.

haha i still cant xD
dont laugh

I was 3 or 4, but the knot only had 1 loop, then it get better

I was 6. The teacher in first grade would have to tie my laces... at least they didn't come undone very often. I was eager to learn before then, but the idea was always shown to me too quickly. Eventually after a lot of trial-and-error and my mother's help I learned how.

I don't think my son really got it until he was 10, and he still hates it so much that he only wears laces for soccer (no choice there). All other shoes he insists be velcro or slip on.

PS - I remember a similar thread on another forum a few years ago, and the average age there for AS was probably 9. It really helped me relax about it, to know that my son was within the range of "normal" for "kids like him."

I now wear shoes that I can just leave laced, and slip in and out of.

I hate having a different tension every day, or a different tension for each shoe, which is what happens if I lace them every day, and I don't want to have to untie them and re-tie them several times a day until I get it right.

Besides imitation and all, I read that learning to tie laces is connected to having developed a certain level of fine motor skills.

I wonder if it's true, because my fine motor skills were indeed above average throughout childhood. I could not learn by imitation, but I had an easy time tying the laces and thus understanding how to make the common loop, wrap around, pull loop.

I was made fun of throughout elementary school because I wore exclusively Velcro shoes - I could not tie my shoelaces.
I finally learned at age 11 - the only reason I did is because I stayed up an entire night practising, because my class was going on an overnight hiking field trip, hiking boots do not come in Velcro versions, and I couldn't stand to be made fun of on the trip (without a reprieve of going home in the evenings) because someone had to tie my hiking boots for me.
I thought I was just fine now (though I only ever tie my shoes with a double initial knot and double loop), but it turns out I'm still much slower than the average person. Oh, well - at least once I get them done up, they're secure.
I was (/am?) motor-delayed as a child, and still do things like gripping my pencil extremely hard, or pressing very hard to write.

Corollary: do you find yourselves not wanting to take off shoes (even to relax, or when going inside the house, etc.) because it's just that much work to untie and re-tie them? I don't mean just being lazy, but I imagine that for a lot of people with AS, it really is more effort/more difficult!
I know I do this. I'd rather just keep them on; I would never take my shoes off for "a break" or to relax. (Also, I just really prefer the feeling of wearing shoes. Little, solid, enclosed environments for my feet.)