Worried about dd1, is this a part of her AS or should i be getting her checked out?

[Marne]

Dd1 has always been really slow on her feet, i always thought it was part of her AS (being careful not to fall over), now it is getting more noticable when she is playing at school, she can't run with/after her friends, she struggles to climb steps and finds it hard to jump. She is strating to get upset because she can't play with her friends ,when they start running she can't keep up . Last week she told me that her legs were hurting. She struggles to walk long distances without complaining and she walks at a snails pace.

Is this just a part of AS or is it something else?

Is there anyway i can help her build up her leg muscles and motor skills?

She wants to learn to ride a bike but can't push the pedals.

When she walks/runs she looks really stiff and tense, its almost like she has weights on her feet.

I know unusual gait can be part of AS due to the problems of body awareness, but this sounds a little different. My DS has particularly weak hands. Are you under an OT? have you spoken to your paediatrician?

So far she hasn't seen a OT, since getting her dx we have not seen anyone, i always thought it would be something that would improve before she started school, she gets very anxious about hurting herself, a month ago she fell over whilst trying to run and head butted the pavement but now she seems to want to run around but can't .

Definitely see paed and request OT referral. There can be a very long waiting list. We are still waiting 9 months after diagnosis, and still no appointment in sight.

Thanks widemouth, its starting to upset me watching her play with her friends and they are pushing her along and telling her to hurry up, get out the way etc. I am so worried about sports day as she is very competitive (a bad looser) and doesn't stand a chance of winning anything.

Dyspraxia? Often overlaps with ASD.

Possibly, she seems to be struggling with writing (she can spell, read but her writing is scruffy and some letters backwards), isn't this a sign of dyspraxia?

But then again she's only 5 so i'm not sure how neat her writing should be .

She sounds a bit like ds1 (ASD). He tires very easily and always wants to stop for a rest when we're out and about. He still doesn't have the strength and co-ordination to pedal a bike.

Ds1's difficulties seem to be at least partly because he is quite floppy. It takes so much effort to concentrate on walking that it tires him out. If your dd1 is stiff and tense then I would think it's possible that it could be caused by the exact opposite. Either way it's definitely worth speaking to someone about it.

When I spoke to the OT about ds1 we talked about things like riding a bike. She said that in her experience children like ds1 would probably eventually be able to ride a bike but that it would be much later - maybe around the age of 10 or so.

Ds1 also has difficulties with writing. There are lots of things that can be done to help build up the strength in the hands. Ds1 was helped to make shapes out of playdough to help with the muscles. Threading is also a useful activity for helping with fine motor skills.

I think reversing letters is still fairly common at 5. One surprising thing that helped ds1 was actually to do joined-up writing. Before this he had big scrawled writing with reversed letters and even mirror writing if he was tired. With joined-up writing his letters had to start from the proper side or they wouldn't join. It also made his writing smaller and neater. Obviously this might not be true for everyone though. My writing is virtually illegible when I do joined-up writing.

Thank you coppertop, i was thinking maybe horse ridding would improve her leg strength? I think dd2 (asd) will ride a bike before dd1 (dd2 is the opposite and very heavy handed).

I have looked at the traits of Dyspraxia and most of the traits don't fit, she is very creative (draws detailed pictures), she understands instructions (when she wants too), doesn't have a lack of danger (just the opposite) but is a messy eater but then she's only 5.

She sounds like ds who has a dx of asd and dyspraxia.
ds saw an ot and was given exercises to build up his muscle tone. He has hypermobility down one side too plus unstable pelvis anda tremor. Everything is just really hard work and it hurts i think!
Could you get a referral to an OT? we did exercises daily (these helped with writing too). It did really help

How do i get a referral for OT? At the moment she isn't seeing anybody, can i get a referral from her GP or HV?

I was referred across by cahms after he got his asd dx but my friend just went to her gp

Thanks, i think i will try and take her next week, its hard to explain to the gp when dd is there as she doesn't know yet that she has AS (i think she is to young to understand at the moment) but shes old enough to know we are talking about her. She is starting to notice that she is different and can't run around like the others.