Hypotonia - which sports/classes to help with tone and child's confidence?

[wonderinglonely]

DD is 5 and has hypotonia. She has been assessed by the OT and we are doing a programme of activities to help with tone/hand strength etc.

She enjoys school but is conscious I feel of being knocked over in the playground and I have seen her at other activities participating on the edge of the group if there is a lot of running etc. (She has insoles which seem to have helped balance). So, I think she is already developing avoidance techiques and I see that her confidence is not great when it comes to physical activities.

She can run, jump, hop,pedal with stabilisers and climb stairs holding rail. She is not great climbing at playpark etc especially if there are a lot of other children about.

We are very happy to accept she will not be sporty, but on the other hand don't want her to feel she isn't any good at these things. We would like her to develop some confidence at a physical activity, but don't want to send her to anything where she will be overly aware of her limitations. Gymnastics, swimming? (former recommended for strengthening but would she stand out too much?). She does a ballet class at the minute. We don't want to miss the opportunity to get her started while she is young enough to benefit, but don't want to distress her either.

If anyone has been in a similar position I would really appreciate your tips.

Those of you with older children - just wondered how much hypotonia improves as they get older?

My dd (3) still looks so unsteady at times when she's walking. I feel we are doing everything we can to improve her trunk but is such a slow process. She looks a bit like she's drunk when she walks - some days are better than others!

smashing even though dd has just turned 5, she is much steadier than at 3, which is still pretty young. I have to remind myself that as she was later to crawl, walk, etc she will be later doing other things too, but hopefully over time the gap will close, to a certain extent. Some days she seems to make amazing progress and the next I can be a bit silently frustrated (though I try very hard to just praise and encourage her).

However, she is my older child and I sometimes wonder do I expect a bit much of a 5 year old in general.

BBQ totally agree, at least 3 afternoons in the working week, she does nothing after school except homework and play (some days are better than other for sneaking in the strenthening exercises).

Wondering - thanks for the encouraging reply! It is exactly the same with dd - on a good day she appears no different really to her peers and on others the difference is strikingly obvious!

It's running that is the main problem for dd - she can just about do it but she's all stiff and knock kneed!

smashing I know every child isn't the same, but dd couldn't jump off 2 feet until she was 3 - ish and only managed to hop on 1 foot during the summer past i.e. 4+. She now seems to play hopscotch most days at school. Running and walking styles are a bit odd (but then I am hyper aware of it and have always thought dh walks funny a bit funny too!).

Ds1's (coming up for 7) running is slow, but he doesn't look weird at all. His skipping is a bit stiff legged, though! What is more of a noticeable handicap is his inability to do things which require hand strength - eg cut up anything harder than a very soft boiled potato or fish finger; open packets; when he was younger, to flush a toilet (he can on some toilets these days); do up trouser buttons (other buttons are OK, but not buttons that can only be done up if you are simultaneously pulling the two bits of material together in order for the button to be able to reach the hole); pull the velcro tight enough on his shoes etc. That's why learning the piano has been so great - you can see the progress as his hands get stronger. I do wonder how on earth he will manage as a grown up, opening cans and getting milk bottle tops off when the foil underneath is making them stiff, not to mention cutting up and peeling tough vegetables with a sharp knife. I'm sure the fact that his hands will simply be bigger will be a huge help, though - small hands will always find these sorts of things colossally harder work. The way his finger joints just bend back the wrong way when he attempts anything a bit tricky is quite unpleasant to watch, though, and it can't be good for his joints in the long run. At least at this age, it doesn't damage self esteem too much to make things easier (eg elasticated waists on trousers, etc). Little brothers being able to open things you can't and colour in better damages self esteem a little bit more, though!

Hello there, my 22 months old has hypotonia due to gene deletion and has delayed development. Can anyone suggest which walkers we can use to encourage him to walk little bit..

Hi! I was reading your post from many years ago and it felt I was the one writing it…I have a 5 yo daughter with low muscle tone and am facing the same challenges you’re describing. I was hoping you could share your experience finding the right type of activities. Any information is much much appreciated!