My 6.5 year old cannot run!

[Anonymous]

OP, does your DD have a little hypotonia by any chance?

She sounds exactly like my 7.5 yr old DS. It is killing his sense of self to be unable to keep up with his peers in any way. Neither PT nor OT will cure hypotonia or get a child "caught up," which is why I asked about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Well we have been through the coordination disorder diagnosis. We had PT when DD was a toddler and was slow to walk. A bit of OT when she was 5. It was Leaps and Bounds in DC, and they graduated her within 4 months. I think its a pretty well respected practice. I was curious where other posters are going for OT - someone mentioned that it has really helped their child. I didn't see a lot happening in OT. When she began, the evaluation found her average for her age, and then the quick graduation came. But nonetheless, there is the super slow running to deal with. This is all about being able to keep up and health and healthy self esteem. In case anyone jumps on me, let me repeat that I am not expecting or wanting athleticism. I just want to help my child not be the absolutely slowest kid on any team. She can't even play tag effectively at this point. She just gives up after a short run. People have mentioned that she needs to learn the mechanics of running. I agree. Any ideas where I can take her to learn these mechanics?

Fitness for Health in Rockville could be helpful.

Does she have low tone or loose joints? Wondering if other factors are in play in addition to dyspraxia. One of my kids had low tone in her trunk so it was hard to stabilize herself when running, she avoided it. Does she get tired easily? Wondering if she gives up on the running or if she is more fatigued than she should be. Does she seem to tire easily? Have trouble tolerating cold or hot weather? Has she ever needed anything like orthotics? What was the PT's diagnosis?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, does your DD have a little hypotonia by any chance?

She sounds exactly like my 7.5 yr old DS. It is killing his sense of self to be unable to keep up with his peers in any way. Neither PT nor OT will cure hypotonia or get a child "caught up," which is why I asked about that.

Hypotonia can be a component of several medical problems. The cause can't always be discovered but it is worth having a metabolic panel run. My child ended up testing very low for carnitine, when that was supplemented, the tone issues vanished and development took off. Even slow reading, which turned out to be eye tracking issues caused by low tone in eye muscles, really improved. There can be cardiac involvement with carnitine deficiency that continues, so it is really worth ruling out. We are lucky to have an excellent resouce very close by.
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/geneticmedicine/Clinical_Resources/Hypotonia/Diseases.html

[Anonymous]

What about regular practice playing fun running games as a family? Repetition will increase strength and coordination and ultimately speed. If you all get out and run around in the yard after dinner at some point it will click and you will see improvement. If she gives up quickly she is not building the same stamina. You want to follow her lead and take teeny tiny baby steps toward improvement.

How is she with other coordination and stamina? Is the only concern the running or does she have trouble with hand/eye stuff, lack stamina when biking, etc? I also wonder if there is low tone, kids tend to tire much more easily and it could be harder for her to hold the right running form. Maybe call your original PT?

Fitness for Health is awesome, pricey but worth it to us for the improvement we saw.

[Anonymous]

OP here. A long time ago there was some hypotonia noted. That probably means its still there. DD can bike very well for her age, does not tire any more than peers and in fact less than many. But yes, we notice she tires out when she runs. She also doesn't have the fluid running movements yet, arms pumping etc. Her running has improved in the last 6 months, but her peers have become even stronger. Her hand-eye coordination is average to below-average.

For those who have been to Fitness for Health. It is far away for us. At least an hour away. It sounds very worthwhile. Does the evaluation feel like an evaluation to the child? DD is very smart about these things, and is tired of being assessed and being therapeutized for lack of a better way to express myself.

[Anonymous]

bump

[Anonymous]

This is so enlightening for me. Thank you everyone for sharing. My daughter is 8 and never liked to run and was always the slowest when she did run. She also ran out of steam easily. She was just diagnosed needing orthotics, which I thought would help. It helped her over pronation so she doesn't have her twisted ankles as frequently, but she's still really slow. She also has been telling me about issues she has had reading. So, I'll definitely be making a call to the pediatrician's office tomorrow for a PT referral.

[Anonymous]

This is 20:20 again. Does anyone have PT recommendations for Montgomery County?

[Anonymous]

Sorry. Just saw the recommendation for Fitness for Health in Rockville.

[Anonymous]

bump