Does anyone know anything about hypermobility?

[PrinceRogersNelson]

I was wondering if anyone can help me?
I have a DD who is 2.10. She has a speech and language delay. She doesn't have many words and those that she does have are not very clear (I can understand her though).

She is very unsteady on her feet and seems to be really weak. If she is held, she doesn't hold on herself at all. She can't jump in to the swimming pool. Will hold my hands and sort of fall in.
She first walked at 15months so not late, but she walks like she's drunk and stumbles over her feet and her arms wave about. She does not walk like someone who is nearly 3.

I saw a paediatrican last week about something unrelated (I think!) and he gave her a full check up.
When he was moving her limbs he said there was a lot of movement and that she was hypermobile. He said it as an aside really, but it feels really relevant to me.
He did say it might explain her speech delay, but he felt she would grow out of it.

I was wondering if anyone else knew anything about it, or has a child with it?
Is there anything I can do to help her? Do I need to help her and she is managing fine, but not exactly excelling.

Thanks

Please come over to the sn's boards, theres many of us on there with hypermobile children (including me), also look at 'dyspraxia' as some of the traits are similar. Dd1 is having OT and physio for hypermobility (as is her sister) but i have often suspected dyspraxia. Hypermobility often runs along side other conditions but not always.

Thanks. Am out and about at the moment, but will try and post later.
Is it classed as SN then? The Dr just said I probably had it too (he bent my hand back) and said she would grow out if it.

Oh! I don't think hypermobility is something you grow out of! As suggested above, have a look on Special Needs :Children

My ds1 is like that - his natural state is not to provide enough pressure to do anything and he has to work very hard to, eg, hold hands firmly, etc. He is extremely hypermobile (has a diagnosis of ehlers danlos syndrome, hypermobile type). He was a lot later than your dd to move about, though. He was also late with expressive speech, but not with receptive speech (ie only late talking comprehensibly, not with understanding, which was very advanced). He also used to eat unbelievably slowly, dribbled for longer than most children and was very late being able to blow out candles (couldn't get his mouth into a tight enough "o"!). These days you wouldn't know he had had any issues whatsoever with late speech - he speaks much more clearly than most other 7 year old boys!!!!! He is more likely to let little drops of his drink go down his chin than most children his age, though, probably because his mouth muscles are slightly slack, and isn't hugely keen on drinking from a beaker, probably because it's more effort than drinking from a cup. He needed quite a lot of physio when he was younger (and piedro boots to help support his ankles for a while) to get him walking at a reasonable age and some more recently to help build up his muscle strength. Without having had that, he would still be missing out on a lot of things he ought to be able to do and would be in pain as a result of the strain put on his joints. Learning the piano has also been absolutely brilliant for strengthening his hands - he used to avoid doing so many things because his hands tired so easily.

I'm very hypermobile, too, but it was never a problem for me, although in retrospect I can see how it did affect my behaviour and hobbies. In my view, though, if you do have obvious problems when young, you shouldn't just leave it and assume your child will "grow out of it" (which means stop having obvious symptoms, not that they will stop being hypermobile), because all sorts of inappropriate methods of doing things can be developed, then, as the child compensates for weaknesses around particular joints, and the end result could be pain later on in life as a result of inefficient and inappropriate movement patterns. I would therefore push for her to be seen by a paediatric physio.

Hi PrinceRogersNelson,my dd2 was dx'd with hypermobility at 18 months & didn't walk until she was 3.5,she is also non-verbal,but the docs say that is not linked to her hypermobility and its a seperate issue,she does dribble alot though too which indicates a hypermobile jaw .She's a bit of a puzzle really,but post on th SN board,MNers over there are lovely & very helpful

Thanks everyone for your replies. The more people I see with regard to DD the more confused I get tbh.

I will head over and post on SN. Thanks