8 year old with leg pains

[GrinchAnInch]

Hi my son is on the autistic spectrum but very high functioning, he also has hypermobility amongst other things and this has caused tightness in his calf muscles. We have been given daily exercises to do from the OT to help with this but in the mean time he cannot walk for more than 15-20 minutes without being in pain. My husband often ends up carrying him back to the car but he is too big for me to carry. We don't really want to go down the route of getting a buggy but this means we can't enjoy the family days out to the woods or anywhere where we will need to do a lot of walking. We are looking at a pull along wagon that he could hop in for a few minutes when his legs are hurting but although they seem to be able to carry his weight I'm not sure if he will be too big for one and get negative attention (which would send him into meltdown) Anyone one have any advice or solutions please as I am struggling at the moment and need to get out and about more. Thanks

Thanks Polter, I haven't tried Nurofen but I will give it a go. I will also ask the paediatrician about physio when I am there next.

I agree about orthotics and walking boots, Dd3 has always found walking hard going but since having her orthotics in her walking boots she is much improved, her gait is better and she also falls less.

Try to get a gait assessment by a podiatrist, you can go via the NHS or private. We went via the NHS but once we got the right orthotics I started buying replacements/bigger sizes online.

Also does he get enough other excerise, I have noticed since Dd3 is fitter and stronger from lots of swimming she is better at walking.

Good luck

Sorry meant to say, Dd3 does a stretching exersize for her achillies tendons which are shortened due to toe walking. She has to put the ball of one foot on an Argos book and the heel on the floor and the other foot next to the book flat on the floor for a count of 30 and then swap over. She is supposed to do it 4 times a day but that rarely happens.

defo sounds like you need a referral to physio and then poss orthotics. X

Hi thanks for the replies, we have exercises from the OT and when we saw the paediatrician (after a bit of a battle) we saw the consultant and he has referred our son to the physio but we were told it will probably be months before we get an appointment, So I guess until then we are pretty much stuck