Hypotonia

[fallenangel811]

My son just had a PT evaluation through the school district (he's not in school yet). He is being evaluated due to a recent diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome.

Anyway, at his PT evaluation the Physical Therapist noted he has hypotonia/low muscle tone. Now the thing is he is a strong child, so this is confusing to us - I've done reading and understand that you can be strong and have hypotonia...Anyway, what I am trying to figure out is what activities we can do at home to help his hypotonia.

The Physical Therapist did recommend that he get once weekly PT through the school, but don't know yet if that will happen or not...She did say that if he does get PT she would like for us to watch and learn some activities we can do at home. Honestly it is doubtful that he will get the PT through the school, but we won't know for a while yet - His PT evaluation was the first evaluation that was scheduled.

[fallenangel811]

Also noted was flat feet and overpronated ankles. His gross motor skills aren't badly delayed (his fine motor skills aren't good at all, but not sure exactly where he falls there as he's not had his OT eval yet).

[beachcomber]

Our DD has hypotonia as well. She was Dx'd with Autism Disorder (high functioning) in August and is 5 years old now. The thing about hypotonia is it's a lack of strength in the core muscles of the torso. These muscles are used in balancing the body, helping sit upright, etc. Things that have helped include having her flop over an exercise/yoga ball and do wheel barrow walking. Also having an adult pick up her ankles and wheel barrow walk her. Games of push me/pull you - put your feet together as straight legged as possible and then grasp hands and pull/push. We do this to the song "Row row row your boat." and she loves it. Also make sure when he's at the table that he's at hte right height with his feet supported. Elbows should be at right angles with straight forearms parallel to the table top. Same for legs under the table. Flat feet, knees bent at right angles, flat thighs parallel to the underside of the table. Make sure his back is supported so he's upright, not slouching back towards the back of the chair. This will help immensely with his fine motor work as he won't be fighting his body anymore. Get him into good solid footwear. No crocs, flip flops or unsupported sandals. Good fitting sneakers with ankle support are best. This will help strengthen and support his ankles for running and jumping play. Do obstacle courses with him in the yard or play area. Have him crawl under and over, through tunnels, do slaloms and sideways walking. Teach him animal walks like crab walk, monkey walk, chicken or duck steps, etc. to keep it all fun.

[beachcomber]

Oh, if you do work with PT and OT, they can both address fine and gross motor deficits. OT can also incorporate any sensory concerns you may have.

Here's a great article on physical therapy for preschoolers with Autism.

I googled physical therapy and autism and got quite a lot of hits.