DS1 has knocked both front teeth out.

[BigWeeHag]

Thankfully baby teeth, but broke them and had to have them removed under GA, poor little sod.

Does anyone have any tips for helping to teach him how to fall? (I have given up hope of stopping the falling altogether!). In the last few months he has broken teeth, nearly broken nose, had concussion - all because he literally goes SPLAT on his face, doesn't put his hands out at all. I don't know if it's part of the ASD or not, but I expect it's probably sensory in some way.

Also, mind if I have a very shallow little weep that his wee teeth are gone? Pretty much the least of his problems, but I felt so judged at the hospital (nurse assumed it was tooth decay and did a big fat face when told he has ASD, obviously he couldn't be as he was being compliant!) And I know we'll have that attitude about the teeth for a couple of years (he's not 5 yet), but his teeth were perfect. /endshallow.

Not shallow at all BWH. to you both.

Could he do some form of martial art or gymnastics to learn how to fall?

Have checked them out, they don't start the martial arts in the centre until they are 7, and the gymnastics is only for girls . I tried ballet, but he lay on the floor and groaned. Maybe swimming or something might help.

Bigweehag i feel for you, ds knocked his mouth so many times, he killed the nerves in his 2 front teeth, they turned grey, got a massive abscess on one and eventually had to have 5 teeth removed under GA because of his extremely bad diet too.

He is 6 now and most of the children in his class have front teeth missing, so he is not the odd one out anymore.

Ds is also always full of cuts and bruises, he doesnt appear to be clumsy, just a dare devil taking unnecessary risks, climbing and falling, jumping into and onto things/people all the time.

Jumping on a trampoline and exercises have helped to improve his craving for banging and crashing into things/people.

Poor baby

Just mentioned in another thread, last night: DS2 is prone to falling and the physio suggested rocking him around on an exercise ball to get him used to reacting to instability and train the reflex of putitng his arms out.

Have a look at the British judo association website as you will probably find a club in your area .. They tend to take on from 5 years old.. Judo has really helped ds2 (asd and clumsy.. And who had broke his adult front teeth clean in half .. Luckily dentist has done his best and it doesn't look too bad).

Judo has really helpedhim with falling, balance and coordination.. It has set rules and has systematically likey outcomes. Also thechildren tend to work in pairs which is great. And we've found that it has desensitized ds to touch to a degree.. If he has his suit on he is okay with being grabbed and thrown.

Hope that helps

Poor little thing .

Dd1 would always land on her face. She hasn't fallen badly for a while though, i think last time it sunk in that she needs to put her hands out, she fell outside school and hit her head on the curb (i thought she had cracked her head open), she had the biggest egg on her head but luckily she was ok.

I think eventually they realize its best to put their hands out rather than hitting their faces.

Oh dear, poor thing

Dd3 used to do this a lot, still does sometimes. It's not asd related for her so I don't know if this is any use. We used a beach ball/gym ball as recommended by the physio. She would lie on her tummy on it and we would roll it forward moving her head towards the floor, to get her to put her hands out she would reach forward for a toy. It was very controlled so she was happy to do it. Eventually removed the toy so she had to use her weight on her hands to stop her landing on her face.

I would second TACC's advice about Judo.

Ds1 (now aged 8) has ASD and Dyspraxia (awaiting formal assessment) and I was a bit concerned when the school ran a course of judo lessons that he wanted to attend at the beginning of this year.

He did attend two six-week courses in the end and loved every minute of it, despite being tiny for his age and extremely uncoordinated. It definitely helped his balance and as a lot of judo is learning about how to fall safely, it has actually helped him learn how not to injure himself when he falls over as well.

They didn't do the course until they were 7 at ds's school, but clubs often take them from 5. I would love ds2 (much more dyspraxic and constantly injuring himself) to do it, but he is not interested in the slightest.

Forgot to say. Ds2 also knocked out a front tooth when he was 4. Actually he knocked it into his mouth so it was stuck horizontally and had to have it removed.

I totally understand you weeping that his teeth had gone. It really changes the way they look and you don't expect to see gaps so young. My ds had beautiful teeth as well and it really upset me at the time. He is now 6 and we are so used to the gap these days it will seem weird when he eventually gets a tooth there now.

Lord knows when he'll get one though, his brother is 8 and has only just lost his first one.

we have to get ds to practice putting his hands out when he falls, he has cp.
he is only 20mo so might be a bit harder for an older child. basically you have to hold them tummy down and get them to put their arms out when you lower them to the floor, start quite slowly then increase the speed. You have to do it over and ver again, until it becomes natural, its all about building up the muscle memory

Def something that physio exercises could help with all ds2's reflexes had to be learnt. (cp & asd)
He was a baby so it was much easier but it involved lots of us imitating him falling & prompting his hands/arms to extend.

He still works on it on a gymn ball exactly as the others have said, gymn ball work is also good at improving the core stability & balance & reducing the falls

Could I hijack for a second please and ask if you can get child sized gym balls or do your dcs work on adult ones?

Not being the gym sort, I wouldn't know, sorry, we just used the physios one.

Yes you can get child gym balls, our physio leant us one to start & then we order a couple on line.
Both ds's play with them on the trampoline - great therapy!

DS's MS school also have soem, they use them in PE

Thank you, again apologies for the hijack. I will look into getting one for ds2 as he loved playing on my birthing ball when I was expecting dd so I don't think I'd have any problems getting him to use one.