The Training Ties Method

The short answer

The Training Ties method combines two things: patented checkpoint technology that holds the lace steady at the two moments where shoe tying typically collapses, and backward chaining, the gold-standard teaching technique special-ed teachers and occupational therapists use to build complex skills one step at a time. Together they break the failure cycle that has kept your child from learning — and let them practice the real skill on their own shoes until the scaffold comes off and they can tie independently.

I am Bobby Morong, a special education teacher with 20+ years in the classroom. I invented Training Ties after watching kids fail the same way over and over with the standard method. Here is exactly how this method works and why it succeeds where others stall.

The problem this method solves

Most kids who “can't” tie their shoes have not failed at shoe tying. They have failed at the LACE — specifically, at keeping the lace stable long enough to complete the sequence. The standard teaching approach (loop, swoop, pull) requires a child to hold tension on a delicate loop with one hand while their other hand wraps and threads. If the bilateral coordination wavers for half a second, the loop collapses, and the child has to restart from step one.

Restart enough times and the lesson the child actually learns is: I cannot do this.

That is the failure cycle. It is the real reason kids stop trying — not motor ability, not effort, not intelligence. The Training Ties method exists to break that cycle.

Pillar 1: Checkpoint technology

Training Ties® are small patented checkpoints that attach to your child's real shoes. They sit on the lace at the two moments where tying typically collapses — the first knot's tension point and the final loop tightening point. When your child's hands waver, the lace does not fall apart. The progress holds. The child can pause, regroup, and complete the next step instead of starting over.

That is the whole mechanism. Not a teaching board. Not a special shoe. Not a workaround. Just a scaffold on the actual lace, at the actual failure point.

Pillar 2: Backward chaining

Backward chaining is a teaching technique that special-ed teachers and OTs use for complex multi-step skills. The principle is simple: instead of starting at step 1 and pushing forward, you start at the LAST step — and the child finishes the task with a clear success. Then you hand off the second-to-last step, then the third-to-last, working backward through the sequence.

The child ends every single practice session on a win. That matters more than parents realize. For a kid who has been failing at this task for months or years, a clear, clean success is the thing their brain has been waiting for. Confidence builds backward through the skill, in a way it never does when you keep starting from step one.

The method in practice

1. Set the environment. Calm time. Real shoe. Lap or table. No rush.
2. Reset the emotional frame. Say out loud: “The old way was the problem. Not you. We are trying something different.”
3. Use two-color laces if you have them. They remove directional confusion — “red over blue” beats vague pointing.
4. Attach Training Ties to the shoe. One on each lace, at the checkpoint position.
5. Start with backward chaining. You do every step except the last. Your child completes the final pull-tight. They succeed.
6. Hand off one step at a time. Each session, give your child one earlier step to own. The checkpoints stop the lace from collapsing while they learn.
7. Fade the scaffold as control builds. Once your child can complete a step or two without the lace shifting, remove the checkpoints. The skill stays. The scaffold was teaching, not replacing.
8. Keep sessions short. Two or three minutes ending on a win beats fifteen minutes ending in frustration.

Why this method works when others don't

• Real shoes from day one. The skill is practiced where it lives — on the child's actual sneakers — not on a board that doesn't transfer.
• Stops the failure cycle. The checkpoints break the restart-and-fail loop that builds the “I can't” belief.
• Ends every session on a win. Backward chaining means the child always succeeds at the final step. Confidence compounds.
• Fades out. The tool is designed to leave. Once the child can tie, the checkpoints come off and they tie like any other kid.
• Produces real data. For OTs and SPED teachers writing IEP goals, each step is observable and trackable.

Who this method is for

This method works for typically developing kids who got stuck on the standard method, and it works especially well for kids on autism, ADHD, dyspraxia, Down syndrome, sensory processing, and motor planning profiles. The reason: those profiles tend to amplify the bilateral coordination, motor planning, and frustration tolerance demands that shoe tying already stacks. Removing the lace-collapse problem dramatically lowers the load on every other system.

Dedicated guides by profile:

• Autism, ADHD & fine motor support
• Dyspraxia (DCD)
• Down syndrome
• Cerebral palsy
• Sensory processing disorder
• Fine motor delay

For OTs, teachers, and IEP teams

The method maps cleanly onto a task analysis and produces step-level data for IEP goals and clinical documentation. See shoe-tying tools for IEP goals, the teacher & OT page, the pediatric clinics page, and the adaptive PE page for setting-specific guidance.

Related guides

• How to teach a child to tie shoes without frustration
• How Training Ties works — video walkthrough
• Shoe tying glossary — every term defined
• Shoe-tying practice activities — 12 games

FAQ

What is the Training Ties method?

It is a two-pillar shoe-tying teaching approach combining patented checkpoint technology (that holds the lace steady at the two moments where tying typically collapses) with backward chaining (a special-education teaching technique where the child ends every session on a success). Together they break the failure cycle that keeps kids from learning.

How is the Training Ties method different from other shoe-tying tools?

Most products either replace the shoe-tying skill (Velcro, no-tie laces) or simulate it on a non-shoe (practice boards). The Training Ties method teaches the real skill on the child's real shoes — the checkpoints scaffold the hard moments and then fade out as the child gains control.

How long does this method take to work?

Most kids learn the full sequence in roughly 10–15 minutes of focused practice spread across a few short sessions. Kids with autism, ADHD, sensory differences, or a long failure history may take longer, but the method's structure — ending every session on a success — keeps motivation high throughout.

Does the child still have to learn to tie real laces?

Yes — that is the entire point. The Training Ties method is a teaching tool, not a substitute. The checkpoints come off once the child can tie independently. The skill the child builds is the real shoe-tying skill on real shoes.

Who created the Training Ties method?

Bobby Morong, a special education teacher with 20+ years of classroom experience teaching kids with autism, ADHD, sensory processing differences, and motor planning challenges. The method and the Training Ties tool both came directly from his classroom.

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