Dear Woom Bikes, you need adaptive accessories, like training wheels NOW

This is an open letter I wrote to Woom a few moments ago, and I’d like the communities to help to get Woom thinking more adaptively.

Dear Woom,

We bought a Woom (3) bike a few years ago for our daughter who at the time we thought would be like any other child, even though she had a stroke at birth. The Doctors just were not sure if the stroke would have an effect on her coordination and or dexterity, but here we are, she is now 6 years old, and has been trying to learn to balance on the Woom bike for years, but just can’t get it. The Doctors have asked us to start Occupational Therapy for our daughter, and she has started OT, where, her OT Nurse/Practitioner has asked that we get her a tricycle or to fit training wheels on her bike.

I tried to make one pair of training wheels from Amazon work, but they keep folding back and losing touch with the ground. I’d really like to find a pair of training wheels that work with the Woom bike.

I understand your mindset that Balance Bikes are best, but honestly, it kind of feels a bit overly ableist at this point. Sure normal kids might be able to make the leap, but our daughter just needs a little bit of help to feel normal and the reluctance to offer an option for training wheels seems downright ableist when parents might be buying your bikes before we even can know if our child is going to be 100% normal.

We now know that our child has several small motor coordination deficits, most people wouldn’t even notice in public, but she knows. She knows how hard it is, and she has started to shy away from activities because of the burden her stroke put on her.

I implore you to explore adaptive options for your product line or to recommend a set of training wheels from other vendors that could fit your bikes so my child and children like ours are not left out. Left to feel less than.