The physical symptoms of autism

[WorrierPrincess]

Does anyone have any advice on the physical side of ASD? Our lovely DS is 3.2 and recently dx with autism. He's high functioning and we're working hard to help him through ABA.

We've been focused on his social issues but as he's getting older his physical symptoms are becoming more evident compared to other kids his age. He has low muscle tone, is pretty uncoordinated and has a strange, stumbling walk (flat feet, ankles often collapse inwards and he now likes to hold his left arm in a kind of clawed position). He's also very tall and skinny (poor kid eats so well but looks malnourished!) and what the physio calls "all arms and legs".

I'm so worried about his physical symptoms making him a target for bullies when he goes to school, and I'd love any advice to help him now. Did your kids physical clumsiness get better over time? Naturally or with intervention? Did you find anything particularly helped?

Our DS is having OT and we've got him a trampoline he loves. Any experiences/ideas would be gratefully received.

Dd3 has orthotics in her shoes which really help with her walking.

She has hypermobile joints, low muscle tone and poor coordination.

She does a twisting thing with her hands and fingers when she is walking but i dont know if anyone else notices. I do because the psychiatrist asked me if she does anything with her hands when she is walking so now i often look.

Physio has really helped her general strength and she now does lots at school to.

She has a gym ball for sitting/rolling on while watching tv.

I'd say physical symptoms often seem to go hand in hand with ASD, but they are separate from ASD. My DS is pretty uncoordinated, he's unDXed dyspraxic I think, but he's got no problems with muscle tone. What I'm trying to say is get help for any physical symptoms as you would for a child without ASD, as you probably won't get help for them otherwise. Good that you see a PT, have you got an OT as well?

Yes it has got a lot better.DS3 is 5.5 he never had low muscle tone - was always pretty strong, but all his motor skills were late
We have found that a lot of his clumsiness was not due to an actual physical motor problem but due to lack of practice / attention - he would never stick with an activity for more than a few seconds
At the start of reception he could not use or even pick up a pair of scissors, now he is great with them as he has done lots of practice with 1:1 modelling, rewarding, hand over hand etc
He runs more typically - I would say that suddenly improved around 4.5. His ball skills are better, again because we do ABA programmes to teach them.
He had some motor oddities which I would say were behavioural / stim rather than a true motor problem - could the clawing be this? If he was rewarded for not doing it would he stop easily?
DS used to suck his thumb a lot in therapy and now is able to stop himself doing it - so sometimes its building a awareness of it and teaching not to do at certain times, so he gets positive feedback for keeping his hands still
There are still things which are not typical he often does not use 2 hands together for tasks - that might be more motor planning
And he doesn't always seem to know how much pressure or strength to use for a task and is too gentle e.g. lego bricks he found it hard to squeeze them together
Over time with practice it has all improved amazingly
Thats not to say your DS does not have genuine motor problems - but at 3.5, I was convinced DS did and now I can see most of them with practice, repetition and better attention are improving.
Ww have always included motor activities in the ABA programme.
There is a pretty wide range of ability at school. My middle DS has no SN but hates sport and is pretty uncoordinated. He's not in the football gang but still has lots of other children to choose from. I think that sort of bullying tends not to happen until nearer secondary age.
For eg DS1 has a girl with Downs in his class and it took him 2-3 years to realise she was anything more than a bit small.
Children at 4-5 are pretty accepting of differences. They are often too self absorbed to notice.

Thanks for your comments. We have a paediatric appt in a couple of weeks so we'll be badgering for a proper physio assessment.

Agnes we are just about to do out first ABA workshop so I'll definitely talk to our consultant about using ABA to develop physical as well as social skills. (this is all v new to me so not quite sure what to expect). And you are so right about not being naturally inclined to stick at a task! The phrase "I'm finished!" is heard rather too quickly in our house