low muscle tone in toddlers?

[AnnaNova]

i felt like my son wasnt speaking as well as he should now that he is 2, so i took him to the early intervention program to be evaluated. what they told me surprised me a lot because i wasnt thinking at all in this direction. they said he has low muscle tone, and it affects his speech because muscle tone is low in facial muscles as well. why it happened they dont know, they said his case is mild, so it is not even that noticeable in terms of his coordination and motor skills, at least it wasnt to me or anyone around. 

he qualified for physical therapy, occupatiional therapy, and speech therapy (which sounds like a whole lot to me since they said it was "mild"), and we'll be meeting with them in 2 weeks for the final report and therapy plan. 

they basically sad he needs a lot of running and activities and sensory input. 

i was just wondering if anyone had experience with this, i tried to read up on the internet, but there is a lot of information that kind of pulls in different directions. any information or shared experience is appreciated.

thanks!

 

[beebalmmama]

I don't have experience with it. But from what I've heard for that age group occupational and speech therapy (don't know about pysical therapy) is a lot about play. It's usually pretty fun for the child.

My ds is receiving speech therapy (although he's 5 yrs) and so it's for articulation. But he loves going because they play games together.

Hopefully you get more answers about the low muscle tone thing though. But I'm sure the therapists will have a lot more information to provide you with as well.

[pbjmama]

Yes, at this age all therapies are play based. My ds has had speech at OT. Your ds may be mild now but early intervention is about working on the problem before it has longer term and sometimes worse effects. He might only qualify for 40 minutes a week for each type of therapy - you will find out more at the IEP meeting. It can be really overwhelming at first but in my experience the therapist really want to help you and partner with you, they will answer any and all questions you have and talk to you any time about your ds.

[Peony]

My DS who just turned 2 also has low muscle tone. His sounds more moderate then your child's because it has been an issue for quite some time and he has been getting services for 6 months now. It affects his speech and mobility some, he does wears orthotics. No other dx other then that currently, but I also haven't pursued it. 3rd child of mine with some issues and honestly I am in a place where I'm ok with just low muscle tone dx for now. 

ETA: We do encourage active play with DS, around the house and I take him once a week to an open gym type of place. He tires easily, now that he can run, he will run around for 20 minutes and then need to rest. We don't qualify for PT because our EI has very strict guidelines and DS missed the cutoff by a couple points, but we they did fit him for his orthotics and our PT that did that said he will be able to be a normal, active child, It just may not always be easy on him. Doing things is more taxing on his body then that of another child and he will require more rest/recovery time after activity, and it will probably always be that way, doesn't mean he can't, we and he as he gets older, will just have to be mindful of that.

[~cassie]

My nearly 4 yr old has all over low tone-in his mouth/tongue as well.  It has gotten tons better in just the past 9 mths.  We think our son's is due to his hearing loss.  Anyway--it has affected speech in that he has trouble making certain sounds---p/b/d are the ones he JUST mastered and then there are many consonants that he cannot make at all.  We switched him to only drink out of straws and only take in the first 1/2" of the straw so that he curved his tongue correctly(helped strengthen his tongue).  We do blowing exercises--get him to blow flowers/cotton balls/etc to strenthen mouth as well.  Lots of climbing/jumping over very small obstacles set up on the floor(like foam noodles)..pedaling a bike(may be hard at that age anyway though)...we also did "wheel barrow" exercises--that was me holding his feet up in the air with his hands on the floor and him walking on his hands---really helps strengthen the core(which helps with language as well) and then we did situps with him--making him do the work.  Also we had him sit on a chair--without letting him rest against the back of the chair---and would use an ipad to have him reach forward with his pointer finger to play games--again that helped with core/balance as well as fine motor.  We have done these things for so long that they are second nature but they are also fun for him but do get tiring quickly.