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SN children

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Original poster

toe walking in asd

31 replies

hungryhippo21 · 03/02/2009 13:46

i know toe walking is a trait of asd. today ds1 is like a pro ballerina (sp) just wondered if anyones else lo does it and why they do it. any ideas?????

OP posts:

myredcardigan · 03/02/2009 13:58

Hi,HH!

I've just had DS assessed for AS and did lots of reading in the run up.

I think it is seen in children with asd because it can indicate a sensory issue in that the child has very sensitive feet/toes.

Not all asd children have sensory issues and not all children with sensory issues have asd so without any other worries, I wouldn't jump into worrying that it was asd.

How old is he? Most toddlers do this from time to time anyway.

Original poster

hungryhippo21 · 03/02/2009 14:02

hi he is 2.5 and is waiting for asd dx he has lots of asd traits dont know if he has sensitive feet- he doesnt mind them being tickled and has just started keeping his socks om just wondering if it meant he was upset or if others peoples lo did this before they did something else iyswim

OP posts:

myredcardigan · 03/02/2009 14:10

Oh ok, sorry I didn't realise you were waiting for an assessment. It often means sensory issues but it may just be a usual toddler one off. I'm sorry I can't help more but at least I can bump you til someone who knows what they're talking about comes along.

Original poster

hungryhippo21 · 04/02/2009 21:26

bumpety bump

OP posts:

5inthebed · 04/02/2009 21:58

My ds2 does the toe walking thing, he can even run on his toes. He has very sensitive feet, refuses to take his socks off (even baths with them on).

My HV told me it was because he was in a baby walker, but hey ho, she is always wrong anyway.

SpookyMadMummy · 04/02/2009 22:40

My DD age 7 does this, she also sits quite alot and picks at her feet almost like an obsession. She was diagnosed 3 years ago, and it was one of the first traits that HCP's picked up on.

My 15 year old nephew also (still) tiptoe walks from time to time. He has Asbergers and ADHD.

amber32002 · 05/02/2009 09:08

I think it's also to do with the way the brain develops. If a child always toe-walks and can't seem to walk normally, they'll look to see if that bit of the brain is developing as it should or needs more time to mature.

Original poster

hungryhippo21 · 05/02/2009 13:58

thanks for that he only toe walks now and then, it seems to come and go with other traits today is quite bad, worse eye contact, tantrums, will not eat, covering ears, squeaking not babbling could carry the list on but feeling too depressed. Does anyone elses dc go through bad stages???

OP posts:

jg3kids · 07/02/2009 12:01

For us toe walking is always constipation. We did a bowel clear out for ds and even though he always had loose runny diarrhoea like stools we were amazed at how much poo came out.
The reason we did the clearout was we went to the U.S to see a DAN! (Defeat Autism Now!) doc and ds had an x ray that showed he had massive 'loading' (P.S my dd has bowel disease and our gp refused to refer ds to gastro saying he only had 'toddler diarrhoea' and 'it's just his autism')
Anyways, to cut a long story short ds was on laxative for 2 weeks and did poos a 15 stone bloke would be proud of!!
He has also started speaking (only about 15 words so far but YAY!)

Original poster

hungryhippo21 · 07/02/2009 12:22

hi jg, how old is your ds, its good to hear he has started talking as well . ds1 has been quite irregular with his poos only 1 every couple of days and they are either splatty or like pepples (sorry if tmi) never normal. So what laxative did you use and how did you get him to take it???

OP posts:

improvingslowly · 07/02/2009 13:05

Hi JG
Could you give a bit more info about your DAN doctor? Do you think the talking is related to your visit?
thanks

jabberwocky · 07/02/2009 15:39

There is also a theory that toe-walking is a visual spatial adaptation. I am currently using yoked prism lenses in a developmental optometry mode (vision therapy) for this and various other autistic symptoms. Dr. Mel Kaplan (New York, US) has written several case studies demonstrating the cessation of toe walking after prescribing ambient lens therapy (yoked prisms).

TiggerBuckets · 07/02/2009 16:59

OMG JG3kids, sounds exactly like my DS (and my paed. Has the loose poo improved in general or does he need regular 'clearouts'?

He's also a toewalker btw. I read it was a stimming thing? Would make sense if it gets worse at the same time as other behaviours - coping with a stressy time maybe?

jabberwocky · 07/02/2009 17:36

I missed the poo post. Ds1 had major problems with this as well. We keep him on really high probiotics now as well as magnesium glycinate, cod liver oil and mega omega 3's. He is doing sooo much better now!

I would love to take him to a DAN! dr. We are in the US but the only one in our state charges $600 for an initial consultation.

jg3kids · 07/02/2009 18:27

Hi peeps,

Jabber - I can't belive they charge 600usd. What robbing b*stds! Do you follow a protocol through reading books? We're in the UK and are fortunate to have received funding from Caudwell Children's charity. They fund 3000 gbp per year for tests, treatments and vits/mins/enzymes/mb12/chelation etc. If anyone wants info on this let me know. We use probio's too (and i've had a go at fermenting foods - disaster... yogurt turned out ok though.) and magnesium is good for clearouts isn't it. I think oxygenated mag is what's in Oxypowder.. Which you can get at MandiMart in the U.K if anyone's interested. We find CLO is good for gut too. We did try aloe vera but he wouldn't take it so took it myself! (waste not want not).
Was interested to hear about the yoked lenses. I've read papers from Ian Jordan a specialist in Scotland (I think he trained with Kaplan) and he may be coming along to a biomed conference I'm going to be at in March. Could you give me more info/sites/books to read pls about what you're doing?

Hungry - Ds will be 4 next week. He was dx the day of his 2nd birthday as having severe autism. We jumped straight on treating him (I have a niece and nephew with asd) We are using Miralax which is from the U.S. I'm not sure if you can get it here... anyone know? I can go find out the ingredients and see if you can get similar here. It's completely flavourless powder that you mix with any drink.

Tigger - we are just starting on a maintenance dose of Oxypowder to keep him ticking over. Honestly, if you saw him you'd never in a million years think he had constip.

Improving - We were seeing a uk DAN! but she retired. If you are interested in finding one look at the practitioner section in both www.treatingautism.co.uk and The Autism File magazine (online) or just google DAN!

Actually, my 'severe' 4 year old is doing bloody marvelously now i think of it! He potty trained himself in 4 days in September after we eliminated all the high food items that showed up on an intolerance test.

j
x

jabberwocky · 07/02/2009 18:36

JG, I do follow things from books. The one that we are using for his gut issues is from Kenneth Bock's book Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. I also had another mother recently tell me about using three-lac for a yeast clear-out so am going to try that soon.

I'm an optometrist so my books would be too technical but this is a good website. And anything you find about Mel Kaplan would be good. I have just started doing vision therapy and ordered ds1's glasses last week. As you can imagine, I am quite anxious on many levels to see what kind of improvement he might show. On initial testing in the therapy room he showed a noticeable increase in ability on several of the tests when using the prisms.

jabberwocky · 07/02/2009 18:37

Oh, and lol at robbing b*stds! I quite agree.

jg3kids · 07/02/2009 19:22

Hi Jabber (is ok to call you that?)
Thanks for the link, i'll read it.
Yes I read the Bock book. I joined Treating Autism and they've got a library, you only need pay for the postage.
I also liked Bryan Jepson's Healing the new childhood epidemics' and MacBride's 'Gut and psychology synrome'.

We have big yeast issues too and are currently on diflucan.

jabberwocky · 07/02/2009 19:31

Absolutely OK to call me jabber Most people do. I talked to our former and current pediatrician about getting ds1 on diflucan and kept getting blank stares and advice to continue with Miralax (which we wound up doing for a year!) Have just heard of a new doc in town who is more holistic so am going to give him a try.

Is Treating Autism a group just in UK?

TiggerBuckets · 07/02/2009 20:23

JG3kids So is that just half an Oxypowder capsule? Was just looking it up, looks quite scary!

jg3kids · 07/02/2009 20:34

Hi
yes, TA is based in the uk and there are local support groups (I run one in Bromley Kent) but the website had more hits from the US last year than from the UK. Biomed is much more the norn in the US (thanks to Jenny MacCarthy in some small part) in the UK I'm considered a bit 'fringe'

Can you do a stool test in the US without a doc? (Is it metametics that does the cdsta - comprehensive digestive stool test thingummy) The diflucan was really cheap from Walmarts

Tig - yes, just half an oxy. Am looking forward to more gains. In a month time we're started antivirals too!

j
x

TiggerBuckets · 07/02/2009 20:48

Ooh could do with some antivirals - we have molluscum here.

jg3kids · 07/02/2009 21:02

is that warts?

i know people that are doing natural antivirals with herb (artemisia, oil of oregano, black walnut oil etc) but ds can't swallow caps and there was NO WAY he would have those in a drink!

LoveBuckets · 07/02/2009 21:09

Yeah, he's taking 'thuja' homeopathic pills and I'm about to start wiping with teatree ooil (when he'll let me.) Funnily I've read it's more common in kids with eczema which he has. Which I always wondered might be dairy issues (that and the poo.) Oh, it's just a merrygoround isn't it? Chickens and eggs.

LoveBuckets · 08/02/2009 09:10

Can I also ask what your food intolerance test involved please? Was it skin patches, blood tests, poo tests or that homeopathic toe thingy test? Or something completely different?

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