Bay mom’s efforts aid disabled children
By Jeff Gallatin
Bay Village
Published July 26, 2006

Steve Madden helps Andy Brown, 10, as he learns to ride at the nationally known “Lose the Training Wheels” program held this week at Bay Middle School. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

One Bay Village mother’s effort to make her son’s ride through life a little easier has resulted in a nationally known training program coming to her city this week to aid 35 disabled youngsters from throughout the United States.

For Nancy Geschke, having Dr. Richard Klein and his Rainbow Trainer’s Inc. program at the Bay Middle School is important not only to her and her son Brian in their efforts to let him ride a regular two-wheel bicycle, but also tothe 34 other youngsters and their families.

“All the families that have contacted me and that are taking part in the program are so excited that the program is coming to Cleveland to help all these children,” Geschke said. “They, like my husband and I who have a disabled child, are desperate to have their children riding regular two wheelers.”

Klein, a retired mechanical engineer from the University of Illinois, travels the United States teaching children with mental and/or physical disabilities how to ride regular bicycles without training wheels in his “Lose the Training Wheels” bicycle camps. Children start off on stable, roller-wheeled bikes and progress to increasingly less stable bikes. Klein said by the end of the week-long session, the majority of the children in the camp are on regular bikes without any support.

Children attending the camp come from a wide area. Ohio cities with children in the camp include Avon Lake, Bay Village, Brookpark, Chagrin Falls, Fairview Park, Lakewood, Medina, North Olmsted, Olmsted Township, Rocky River, Sandusky, Sheffield Lake, Westlake and Westerville. In addition, children from Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania will be there.

“It’s a pretty good range of  communities,” Geschke said. “With a full camp of 35, we had to put 15-20 other families on a waiting list.”

Geschke said her primary intent in getting involved was to help Brian, her 9-year-old son who has Rasmussen’s Encephalitis, a rare chronic inflammatory disease that mostly occurs in children under 10 and is characterized by frequent, severe seizures, paralysis on one side of the body, loss of motor skills and inflammation of the brain.

“For the most part he’s your normal 9-year-old fourth grader who wants to do all the things kid his age would do, like ride a two-wheel bike,” Geschke said. “It’s just this disease has hit the one side “It’s just this disease has hit the one side of his body and caused problems for him. We’ve just been trying to deal with that, and this program is one way to do it.”

In addition to Brian’s disability, the other disabilities represented in the camp include cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome, autism, Asperger Syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy and other physical and cognitive disabilities.

“There are a lot of them out there, we’re just glad to get something which can help the youngsters,” she said.

Geschke said she first became aware of the program after seeing an article about Klein in an issue of People magazine.

“It seemed like something that could help Brian, so we started to see if we could get one of the camps to come to the Cleveland area,” she said.

Another aspect of the camp that appeals to Geschke is the high level of training and attention the youngsters receive. Each of the 35 children will have an individual trainer to guide them through the five-day camp. There also will be a physical or occupational therapist available to assist. The children will attend camp for 75 minutes each day, with seven or eight children grouped to ride at one time.

“It’s great knowing there is that kind of support,” she said. “We also have teachers from around the area taking part and we couldn’t have done it without a lot of caring sponsors who all deserve thanks.”

Bay Village Mayor Debbie Sutherland said Geschke deserves a lot of credit.

“She really got the ball rolling on this,” Sutherland said. “This is a program that will benefit a lot of children and their families and give them something they all need and can enjoy.”

Geschke said with the strong response to the first camp, she thinks it’s likely Klein will come back to the Cleveland area but said she would like to see some regional or national children’s organizations help put it together next time. For additional information go to the “Lose the Training Wheels” Web site, www.losethetraining wheels.org. or contact Geschke  at (440) 892-1481 or ngeschke@comcast.net.