Physiotherapy?

[totallyspent]

A while ago, my DS ( who has ASD) was seen by the NHS Physio and discharged almost immediately despite being told he has hypermobility. This was when he was 3 and walked awkwardly with his feet slightly turned inwards. Cut to now when he's 4.5 and his mobility is still noticeably slow. When he is walking freely at his own pace, he seems fine and fluid but walking moderate distances holding hands, he seems to really lag and be heavy footed. I noticed he pulls at me when we are holding hands and he seems to walk by slapping his feet down as he walks along. I'm going to request another PT appointment but I'm betting it will be ages-the last and only time he was seen, they almost refused to assess him as they deemed his needs too trivial-all this from his written referral by the GP. they hadn't even met him and was trying to write him off. I was wondering has anyone gone private and is it something that he will grow out of as he gets older?

[tartanterror]

We have had similar issues - slight motor problems that don't quite meet any particular threshold for action. We paid for a sensory OT report from Hopscotch. We went for the detailed report but probably could have had a shorter one as there was quite a lot of repetition. Anyway that gave us a good idea of where our DS' issues lay and then we did DIY OT at home. We got a garden trampoline and swing to get him active. We did an iLS listening programme which seemed to help his balance (he finally learned to ride a bike) and some pro-social behaviours in subtle ways. We have been doing the balance exercises out of the brain food plan book (not the diet stuff though). Buying toys and games to help areas of weakness in fun ways is best. Doing things at home is not only cheaper but saves a lot of travel time. We recently qualified for an OT referral on the NHS which has been most useful for organising help with typing/keyboarding at school but not with the other minor motor issues. We have found neuro movement/retained reflex type movements have helped with those to some degree. If I am honest though it is difficult to know how many improvements are down to our help, and how much to development/getting older!

[totallyspent]

Thanks Tartan. We are getting a private OT to work with him on the sensory side of things. She noted that his core strength needs building up. He always seems to sit slumped or prefers to lie down when tired.

[notgivingin789]

tartan wow you have done a lot .

[notgivingin789]

DS doesn't have your DS difficulties with mobility. But DS has some dyspraxia motor tendencies. In the holidays, I was taking him to one of those adventure parks...nearly everyday... this seemed to of helped his mobility. Can you try this ?

[abc12345]

We've had the same problem. My ds has lots of issues with gross/fine motor skills, balance, muscle tone, hypermobilty, etc etc but there has been almost no NHS help. I'm genuinely worried about the NHS.
We have helped him with private ot, private speech, retained reflex therapy and auditory intergration training. It's so expensive but obviously worth every penny.
We also do a lot at home with the help of google and Pinterest!