asd and hypotonia

[autumnsmum]

hi autumnsmum here my son aged 5 has autism and hypotonia and i wondered if anyone else has a child with the same, we are seeing an ot for the hypotonia

Yep!
I believe it's not that uncommon although I don't know if there is an established link or not. My DS2 (ASD and hypotonia) was a very floppy baby, .had physio, Piedro boots, then splints.. and at 13 still gets exhausted sooooo quickly etc. Meeting other parents when he was little, and now working in special school with children who have ASD I have come across so many!

Things to ask the OT about... seating (DS has a special chair in school) buggy/wheelchair if he can't walk far etc. Pencil grips and a slant board if he is at the stage of learning to write/hold a pencil... it all helps:):)

My ds1 has hypotonia (and hypermobility - actually has a diagnosis of Ehlers Danlos syndrome, hypermobility type) and aspergers. He's coming up for 7. I find that as his muscle strength increases, so that he has better control over the hypermobility and hypotonia, his more autistic tendencies also diminish. Almost as though, as he gains better physical control over his environment, he is able to gain better emotional control, better understanding of his environment and therefore also improve his social skills. Apart from having had to work incredibly hard to achieve what other children could do with ease, I've also noticed that ds1 has always needed to be taught how to do what other children work out for themselves when little by bashing away at things and learning by experiment. It has affected his whole attitude and I'm constantly having to battle with him just to have a go at something and not be afraid to learn from his mistakes. He's getting better at being willing to have a go and perservere as he gets older. I've found physio incredibly useful for building up strength and stability - OT so far has been useless (ie not really provided any support...), but she has finally had another look so we might get more help on that front one day.

Dd1 has Aspergers and i think she has hypotonia, we are still trying to get a referral back to paed and OT, dd2's pead said its common with ASD.

hello thanks for all the comments, marne ive said this before our dcs sound very similar, rabbitstew soory to hear youve had no help

We had an appointment come through for dd1 to see the paed and then it was cancelled a few days after , we have been waiting sinse June to see the paed. Poor dd is getting picked on at school because she can't run .

Hi, autumnsmum. We're not getting no help - we are now seeing the physio again. It is really making a difference to ds1's upper body strength (neck, shoulders, arms, back, hips, core body generally), which just keeping him active wasn't really having much effect on. The strengthening exercises the physio gave have made a big difference to his ability to throw and catch so far and will hopefully enable him to build up enough strength that he can actually lift his arms out of the water when trying to learn front crawl (without dislocating them)!!!! She also gave him inserts for his shoes that have helped with his pronating ankles and made him a much more confident and enthusiastic runner.

Also, learning to play the piano has made a huge difference to his hands - he started out unable to play individual notes with individual fingers and now has the strength to separate out all his fingers to play different notes and is very good at keeping in time.

I know there is an overlap between what some OTs do and what physios do, but I would rather have more input from the physio than the OT for my ds1, as if you can safely increase muscle strength, then the issues hypotonia causes are hugely reduced, and physios know more about exercising the muscles safely and in a focused fashion than most OTs do, who specialise more in adapting the environment to suit the status quo, or dealing with co-ordination rather than muscle-tone issues. Ds1's issues are more on the muscle-tone side of the equation than the co-ordination side (albeit there is often a strong link between the two). His writing, for example, is actually quite acceptable for a nearly 7-year old boy!

Yep. DS2 has ASD and hypotonia (plus hypermobility) too. He slides off a chair like custard.

His OT referred him on to a physio, who in turn gave us lots of suggestions of strengthening exercises to do with him and referred us onto orthotics for some Piedro boots and inserts.

sorry rabbitstew misread your message ill one year old so lack of sleep your physio dounds great

My DS1 has ASD and mild hypermobility and DS2 has hypotonia and severe hypermobility. I would agree with physio being better than OT but then our OT is an OT assisstant and just deals with equipment rather than therapy.

Very interested to read this thread. I never thought there could be a link between the two, but my DS3 (26 months) has hypotonia (especially in the lower half of his body) and hypermobility. He still can't walk, has just started to pull up, but his ankles roll right over and he is very floppy.
He also has sensory issues and some ASD traits, but experts all say too young to diagnose. They have said he has "mild developmental delay" at the moment, but I am sure he will eventually get an ASD diagnosis. At the moment he's having physio, hydro and waiting for an OT appointment. Also under portage and SALT.