Poor muscle tone

[juls]

One huge area that I wish I could resolve with my son is his muscle tone. My son is very large for his age- both tall and big boned. He is also very, very strong. But his body is like dead weight. When he rests his arm on me it's so heavy. He has been dead weight since he was an infant. He also has trouble with his body in space. I used to joke that his head was like a bowling ball and it would inevitably bang into me almost daily when he was small enough to sit on my lap. He's a bit floppy, but not as much as I would expect. He loves to bang into thing or press against things because he is under sensitive. He is like bam-bam on the Flintstones.

 

Do any of your TS kids fit this description? Anyway to help this dead weight issue? We've done OT but this problem hasn't gone away? I think it's a neurological issue. Are there supplements that could help?

 

Juls

[kim]

Juls,

 

I think the muscle tone issue you are describing is referred to as hypotonia. Very common discussion on autism forums, and yes I have heard of parents discussing supplements that are particularly helpful for the condition. The sensory issues, like the need for deep pressure, I think is quite common too.

 

My oldest son has the pressure seeking need, that you are talking about. It's only an issue, when he has a tic flare though.

Here's one article that talks about it.

 

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003298.htm

 

kim

[michele]

My son is five and he has fine motor delays such as pressing hard enough on a pencil and crossing over letters which is a bilateral skill like the lettter t, or x or drawing shapes he puts round edges on them. Also he has core muscle delays. He does not have good trunk control. This may be similar to what your meaning. His body is like dead weight and he has a hard time with balance and skipping and climbing up on a large ball and swinging his body around. We are just starting OT for six months. I hope we see improvements with coordination.

 

 

One huge area that I wish I could resolve with my son is his muscle tone. My son is very large for his age- both tall and big boned. He is also very, very strong. But his body is like dead weight. When he rests his arm on me it's so heavy. He has been dead weight since he was an infant. He also has trouble with his body in space. I used to joke that his head was like a bowling ball and it would inevitably bang into me almost daily when he was small enough to sit on my lap. He's a bit floppy, but not as much as I would expect. He loves to bang into thing or press against things because he is under sensitive. He is like bam-bam on the Flintstones.

 

Do any of your TS kids fit this description? Anyway to help this dead weight issue? We've done OT but this problem hasn't gone away? I think it's a neurological issue. Are there supplements that could help?

 

Juls