Any one else got a child with ASD and weak neck muscles?

[Marne]

At dd2's last OT session they said she has weak neck muscles (when they lifted her of the floor by her arms her head flopped and she struggled to lift it), they said it was due to poor posture and they would sort out some excersizes to do with her, her feet, legs and hips are also turning inwards and her feet are wide and very flat (making it tricky to buy her shoes that fit). Are all these problems common with ASD? She seems to get around ok (unlike her sister) but often looks at the ground when she's running.

What activities can i do with her to improve her neck muscles? and is there anything i can do to improve her legs, feet and hips?

DS2 (almost 5, now, with ASD) does have generalised low muscle tone as well as hypermobility. His head slumps forward if he falls asleep in his carseat (shocking lack of head support in the britax junior traveller that he has) or his Major buggy and he actually ended up with a torticollis, last year after losing muscle tone when he was a bit under the weather and sitting/laying really awkwardly.

He's toughened up a lot in the past year since his torticollis, in part due to general growth, but also with the help of lots of sessions of softlplay and being bounced and rolled around on a gymball by his 1:1 at school. The physio slao suggested activities like swimming, walking on sand and martial arts (he was 3 at the time we saw her, so I tried not to laugh too hard at that suggestion!) all of which would improve his general muscle tone and stability and help him to become more aware of where he is in space.

He also has Piedro boots with inserts, since his feet are very much like your dd's. They make a huge difference to him and we can tell the difference in his gait when he's insisting on wearing something else.

Thanks ouryve, she's 5 years old, she saw physio last year about her feet and legs but they refussed Piedro boots, OT now thinks she needs to be seen again, we have put her in Kickers boots as they seem to help a little (stop her from tripping over her own feet). We have just got her a gym ball (a few days ago) as she enjoyed playing with one at OT. I must take her swimming in the easter holidays as i have never taken her , poor child will have to swim at school after easter and has never been in a pool.

Neither of my DSs have ever been in a pool, either. We've tried to get DS1 into SN swimming lessons, but DH found the contact person impossible to get hold of to verify details and ended up giving up chasing her. We could only ever take one child at a time, since I'm a very weak swimmer (I have my own strong sensory issues around deep water) and wouldn't feel at all confident, even with DH around. Taking the 2 boys anywhere is enough like herding cats on dry land, never mind where there's water involved.

Dh wont come with me (swimming), i don't think dd2 will cope with the light and sound at a public pool, she hates big rooms, school halls, church ect, because of the echo, so i keep puting off taking her as i dont want to pay to get in and the dd2 has a meltdown . I worried sick about swimming at school as they go in on their own (no adult in the pool), she loves water (bath, hose pipe, paddling pool) but has no sense of danger. I must try and take her somewhere, maybe if a phone a few pools and ask 'when they are quiet?'

Hi, Marne,

My ds1 has hypotonia and hypermobility (and a recent diagnosis of aspergers). I would definitely recommend insisting on more physio - it's made a colossal difference to ds1 to get access to the physio again. She gave us loads of exercises for strengthening a specific muscle in his hip, and for strengthening shoulder girdle and, as a by product, neck muscles. Bear walking and four point kneeling while picking up objects from a low table, putting them on the floor and back up, seemed to help a lot with shoulder AND neck (you have to hold your head up in a certain way as you do these exercises). The most helpful hip exercise involved lying on your side with knees bent (don't let your back roll back towards the floor - you have to remain right up on your side to utilise the correct muscle), one leg on top of the other, and lifting the upper knee up, while the upper foot remains resting on the lower foot. There were tonnes of other exercises for other muscles (including lying on side and lifting straight leg up and down, for a slightly different hip muscle) and it was very hard work for poor ds1 (actually seemed to be quite physically painful for him at first, as he was using muscles he didn't appear to know existed prior to that point!). I don't know if we'd have managed to persuade him to put the work in before age 6 or 7, as he wasn't really old enough to understand that such uncomfortable efforts can bring such great rewards - but the result is he is now much more confident at running around (doesn't hurt his legs), joining in in the playground, throwing, catching, and doing pretty much anything with his arms and hands. The transformation to his general confidence, happiness and ability to "go with the flow" has been quite dramatic - it shows just how much anxiety, caused by genuine physical difficulties, can exacerbate "autistic" behaviours. He also has inserts in his shoes to help with his ankle pronation, and this has also made his running style more secure and less "flat" looking (he has a bit more spring in his ankles, now!). In other words, he is now capable of joining in with the things that will maintain the newly acquired strength, whereas previously, we just received vacuous advice to keep him active, without any tips on how to do that if your child appeared to be frightened of doing any of the "active" things suggested. And swimming and piano playing are now his two favourite activities (!!!!!).

Thanks Rabbit, the anoying this is her older sister has more severe problems with her muscle tone and bendy joints but the OT wont even see her and its taken us 1.5 years to get her an appointment with a paed, she was diagnosed with Aspergers at the age of 4 but i was always fobbed off by the GP and told it was just something that we have to put up with , at least dd2 is seeing OT and they have picked up on her problems. We did half an hour with the gym ball last night and she loved it and i have found a pool at a local hotel which looks like it might be quiet enought for her to tolerate (we shall see).