Please teach me about skateboard parts
 

I know next to nothing about skateboarding but would like to put together a board for my 8 year old son's Christmas present. I already have the deck but I believe I also need grip, trucks and wheels? Anything else besides elbow, wrist and knee pads? He already has a helmet. He has Down syndrome and has some physical and intellectual challenges. I don't think he will need to have top of the line stuff but I don't want his board outfitted with department store grade parts either. What parts and brands do you recommend? Should I have a skate shop assemble it for me?

Thanks!

Deck, grip tape, trucks, bearings and wheels. Pretty simple and very easy to assemble. Make sure the bushings on the trucks are installed properly and the trucks are oriented with the bushings inwards.

Thanks. I will check out YouTube for tutorial on assembly. Any particular brand of parts?

It has been aa long time since I skated, but independent trucks were good quality and reasonable price back then. These guys have been in business for a long time, I used to get their catalogs 20 years ago.
Skateboards at CCS.com

Independent trucks are great. They've been around since the beginning. It's all I use.

Independent Trucks

Wheels depend on the deck and what its going to used for. Is this a 'standard' deck? (round at both ends with a raised tail at both ends)

Hmmm how big is his feet? I'll go safe with an 8" deck.
I like lucky tape.
Independent trucks. The best trucks you can buy. Prolly 7.25 width would be fine considering the board.
Shorty hardware. If you want to splurge for the set with polished bolts to tell direction of board.
I love autobahn wheels, but good luck finding them locally. They're more of vert.
Bearing... Bone Swiss

contact these guys:

https://www.muirskate.com/ in san diego. they skate, and race, and build boards.

ask for my son Ryan. He'll assemble it for you, and send it right over.
Tell him you're a 911 bro on his dad's forum.

:)

Thank you all!