Pead commented on "bendy finger joints" - WHAT ??

[TheodoresMummy]

DS (4.2) had an appointment with pead at hospital yesterday.

She has never given us any of her thoughts about DS, just scribbles away and pokes and prods him.

Yesterday she was fiddling with his hands and muttered almost under her breath something about them being a bit bendy.

This threw me a bit because I suspect that he may be asd/as and have no concerns about him physically, IYKWIM.

Any ideas ?

I have a friend with ds with suspected asd, and she was told the same thing.
I thik his is connected with low muscle tone, as in muscles not strong enough to support the joints. My ds has a similar problem, but in an obvious way. Whereas her ds is not so obvious, my ds just looks hypotonic ( I think that is the correct word, am having trouble with word recall today!) and haslow muscle tone, with strange gait etc.

Oh right.

Thanks.

His gross and fine motor skills are very good and he enjoys lots of physical activity.

Would this be affected by low muscle tone ?

What about your friend's DS ?

My ds's gross and fine motor skills are affected, but not hugely. My friend's ds has very good motor skills, but gets tired more easily than other children his age.
Sorry if this isnot very helpful, but is all I could think of.
If your paed is not very forthcoming with what she thinks about your ds, maybe yu could ask to see the notes. She should really explain to you what she means when she says things like 'bendy fingers', that would upset me!

I should ask, but am a bit embarrassed as she has a very strong accent and I keep saying pardon when she does talk to me.

DS does seem to be tired a lot of the time which i've never understood as he usually sleeps ten to twelve hours solid.

Thanks again, it's def useful.

Not sure if this is og any help but my DS has low muscle tone or hypotonia, all of his muscles are weka and extremely fkexible, also due to moderate joint hypermobility. He didn't crawl till over a year and didn't walk till 2yrs 2mths. He is now 3yrs and stillc ant run, jump, pedal a bike, climb stairs etc! He also sleeps for 12 hours a night and will also sleep for about 2-3 hours during the day! He gets very tired very quickly and then gets very frustrated!! He was first taken to see pead due to late mobilty at 18mth and it has been on going since then! He has only just been officially diagnosed with hypotonia, but the he has been discharged from physio and we just have excercises to do with him at home! His fine motor skills are good, but he does get the shakes when he concentrates hard, like when doing a puzzle or building a tower!

Your DS could have milk low muscle tone, but it usually affect gross/fine motor skills to some degree!

I think I would ask to speak to your pead and ask her what she meant, I know it's hard when you cant understand them properly (if it's a realy problem then maybe explain this to her and ask to see someone else?) you need to know what the situation is so you can help your DS and for your own peace of mind!!

My word i just noticed my terrible spelling, sorry, been up all night with baby!!!

Oh he also has delayed speech, which is also a sign of low muscle tone, cos it literally affects every muscle in the body, including the ones in the face!

My DS is 11 and goes to a unit for eight ASD kids attached to mainstream. At least half the boys there have hypermobility (extra bendy joints), and they have occupational therapy to help with the muscle tone and tiredness that goes with it.

It does seem to go with ASD pretty often. Goodness know why.

Thanks all of you.

That's interesting that it seems to go with ASD.

He has not been delayed with his motor skills at all. Crawled at 9m, walked at 13m, has been running, climbing, jumping ever since. But he does seem to get tired easily. He hates walking to places, but i'm sure this is more boredom and not being able to see the walk as a journey to something nice, iyswim.

ds2 has cp & ASD & some joint hypermobility & low tone in his upper body. His physio pointed out that ds1 my NT 8yr old also has hypermobility, some people just have very flexible joints!
DS1 is very active walked early etc no motor problems other than being a little clumsy but is very good a gymnastics.
In many cases it can cause no problems whatsoever & is often hereditary, do you have bendy/flexible fingers & wrists?

No, i'm not bendy, but my Mum told me today that she can bend her toes right back and that her Mum could bend her thumbs back almost to her wrists !!

So maybe nothing too out of the ordinary...

Bending your thumb back until it touches your wrists is one of the tests for hypermobility I think. I can do it, and so can both of my sons. In DS2 his hypermobile joints mean that he gets tired very easily as he has to use his muscles continually to support his lax joints.
It affects his writing in quite a profound way too as he has to wrap his thumb around his fingers to stop them wobbling about which gives him a very awkward grip and he quickly gets cramp in his hand.
When I was a kid I thought it was great to gross out my friends with my 'double joints' but it has led to some joint damage in my 'old age'