What helped Max overcome autism and dyslexia

Max Hides lives for mountain biking and is a world-class rider. Here’s what helped him overcome his dyslexia and autism to become a champion.

In 2017 Max represented New Zealand at the Enduro World Series in Rotorua. He won the Open Men’s Santa Cruz NZ Enduro competition in 2019, and in 2020 he took out top spot in the Linger & Die Enduro at the Senior Men’s event. Along the way, he’s clocked up numerous other biking achievements.

When Max was a preschooler, the paediatrician told his parents, Carol and Matthew, that their son had dyspraxia, hypersensitivity disorder, dyslexia and autism. He said Max would never function independently, attend a ‘normal’ school or, devastatingly to this cycling-mad family, ride a bike.

Today, Max is one of the top-selling mountain bike sales consultants in New Zealand. He enjoys competing in mountain biking and in his spare time he volunteers at his local bike club designing and setting up courses for races. His future looks bright. He has a lovely girlfriend and a job that he adores. However, the road he has climbed to overcome his learning difficulties has been challenging.

Having read Max’s inspiring story in the online magazine pinkbike.com, I asked his mum, Carol, to tell me what she did to help Max.

When did you suspect Max had problems?

C. Right from birth. Max found it difficult to suckle as a new-born. He was ridged and didn’t want to be cuddled. I was a first-time mum, but I could see he wasn’t like my friends’ babies. I suspected something was different. However, none of the health professionals agreed with me and it took years of searching to get a diagnosis.

Was getting a diagnosis helpful?

 C. Absolutely. It was empowering. Without a correct diagnosis, I was at the mercy of other people labelling Max. Once I knew what the problems were, I could find the help he needed and correct others when they judged him.

What were Max’s early challenges?

C. In preschool, Max couldn’t hold a paintbrush or a pencil. He found it difficult to ride a bike, and he couldn’t catch a ball or jump. We taught him how to bounce when he was four years old by using a trampoline. This activity was a great way for him to reset and regroup when he became stressed. He enjoyed counting his jumps and the motion soothed him.

Swimming was also very tough for him. Group lessons didn’t work because of his hypersensitivity, so we paid for private tuition. When Max learned to swim, he was great at it, but it took him about five years to learn.

How did you pick up Max’s dyslexia, and what helped?

C. I always suspected Max had dyslexia because Matthew, his father, has it.

We taught Max to read by working with his interests. Autistic children often fixate on things, and as a young child, Max loved buses. Everything to do with buses fascinated him: timetables, route maps, the lot. To help develop hand-eye coordination, I got Max to follow the lines on route maps using a pen. He couldn’t manage a pencil because his dyspraxia meant he couldn’t apply the correct pressure, but a free-flowing ink pen worked well.

As a family, we enjoy the outdoors. Whenever we went for walks or rides, I would point out the road signs. Max loved seeing them as well as the DOC signs on our rides, and he wanted to read them, so he persevered. He also enjoyed numbers and liked completing a numbered series of books. Being able to tick off book 1, 2, 3 and so on, gave him immense pleasure and a sense of achievement, which built his self-confidence.

We knew Max would struggle in mainstream schooling, so we sent him to a special character school in Christchurch called Discovery 1 (now Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery). There, he was allowed to have a tutor with him in class for part of the day. We had to make enormous financial sacrifices to afford this help, but Sharon, his tutor, was incredible. She worked with Max for four years and took him through a structured dyslexia programme.

When Max was eight, I helped him by using physical exercises to develop his balance, tracking and coordination. These daily exercises made a huge difference and developed his neural pathways.

In those early years, was there anything else you found helpful to overcome autism and dyslexia? 

C. Food colourings and additives made Max’s challenges worse. I noticed after he’d eaten a saveloy sausage, his behaviour and demeanour would deteriorate, and I discovered the red colouring in the skin was behind this.

Max’s father and I were athletes, so we were, and still are, careful with what we eat. We kept sugar out of his diet and never used food as a reward, choosing to give him Lego or Thomas books instead. We saved ‘treat’ foods, such as cakes, for celebrations. Max is gluten-free, dairy-free and avoids alcohol, preservatives, and sulphites as much as possible.

Of course, now that he is an adult I don’t have as much influence over his dietary choices but most of the time he does well managing this.

How did you help Max develop his strengths?

C.We have always called Max’s obsessions his passions to keep them positive. We could tell from an early age Max loved mountain biking, and we travelled all over New Zealand to take him to competitions.

Max struggled to connect with kids of his own age, but he related well with younger or older children. As he is an only child and we won’t be around forever, it was important to me he developed the social skills to operate independently. I believe his passion for mountain biking is helpful in this respect.

We have always encouraged him to be himself and be proud of who he is, stressing he isn’t deficient. He is an awesome young man with heaps to offer. Teachers said they could see he had the potential to be a leader.

There is never one solution for learning difficulties; you need plenty of tools in your toolbox. Max has come so far. When he went away to college in Queenstown to study for a diploma in Adventure Tourism and Business Management, we supported him as and when required. At his graduation, we were so proud. It was a special day for us all.

What would you say to parents who have just received a similar diagnosis for their child?

C. Don’t believe all the negative stories. Surround yourself with positive people and look for your child’s passion. We treat his perceived ‘problems’ as challenges. We all have challenges in life. It has been hard work supporting Max, and we have made huge financial sacrifices, but it has been worth it.

Max now has a successful career in mountain biking sales, is a top athlete and lives a full and interesting life. I would love to go back to his paediatrician and tell him how wrong he was to be so quick in telling us what Max would never do. Max has overcome his autism and dyslexia, exceeding all our expectations, and he is still only twenty-one.

Have you got a story to tell of how you helped your child overcome their learning challenges?

If you want to read how I helped my dyslexic son to read and write check out this blog post. 

And for more information check out these affiliate links

Dysgraphia

Free dyslexia resources