Low tone 3 year old

[Anonymous]

I have a 3-year old (former 31 week preemie) who recently had a full eval done by early stages. Nothing was found "wrong," but a few areas in the low, low end of normal. He didn't qualify for any services. We do private speech therapy for articulation.

I'm concerned about gross and mine motor skills. He had PT was he was a baby, and with this support walked roughly on time. When I pushed the PT at early stages, she recommended soccer or swimming to help him build strength. What have others done with low tone kids? With his speech and his older brother's extracurriculars and OT, we are really booked. Does anyone particularly recommend a gym program or early soccer program? What about ballet? Is taking him to the playground enough? He does dance and gymnastics as part of his schooldat at daycare. I am also worried about his handwriting because of his brother's and my DH's and the low tone. When is a good time to work on that with an OT? It's a hard balance between fitting in and paying for therapies, finding the right extracurriculars, and finding time to draw and do other fun/educational/muscle building activities at home. We are on Capitol Hill.

TIA

[Anonymous]

My 3 year old has low tone, he gets pt, ot and speech at preschool. We also go to My Gym once a week and are in the Univ. of Maryland Children's developmental clinic on Saturday mornings. There he does fine and gross motor skills or fine motor skills and speech. Might consider private OT or Speech this summer.

[Anonymous]

My understanding is that the government provided services will only be given if your child is really behind. I'd opt for private services. I also recommend swimming, tae kwon do and similar things. My low tone child with motor coordination issues hates soccer, but if DC would do it, we'd sign up for it. I think anything physical is helpful.

[Anonymous]

My DD was a 31 week preemie and has mild spastic hemiplegia, but really low tone on both sides of her body. We did OT and PT through PIE until she aged out. We had a private eval through kennedy kreiger's preschool clinic (which I recommend - worth the drive) and their take was that her overriding problems were bilateral coordination, crossing midline, and a weak core. We chose to concentrate on these rather than fine motor skills, with the thought that until she can easily sit straight and make her hands work together, no point in tackling fine motor skills. THis has turned out to work very well for our daughter. We do swimming, which requires bilateral coordination and strengthens the cores, and is fun. I also found a tae kwon do class through the Lab School in B'more (closer to our house than DC). We tried to get in "regular" martial arts classes but we were told she was too slow (visual processing issues). The tae kwon do has been amazing; all my kids go and love it. You might call the Lab school in DC and see if they have any activities that would be open to your son. And we do a weekly tumbling class at my gym, also to strengthen the core. I'm currently looking into drum lessons for her, which would allow her to play an instrument like her brothers but doesn't require as much hand strength as guitar or coordination as piano.

FWIW, at my daughter's initial eval she couldn't hold scissors in one hand and cut paper - used 2 hands for the scissors. After 2 mos of swimming, tumbling, and tae kwon do (and no OT per se) , she is able to cut out shapes - holding paper in one hand and scissors in the other!!

Good luck to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was a 31 week preemie and has mild spastic hemiplegia, but really low tone on both sides of her body. We did OT and PT through PIE until she aged out. We had a private eval through kennedy kreiger's preschool clinic (which I recommend - worth the drive) and their take was that her overriding problems were bilateral coordination, crossing midline, and a weak core. We chose to concentrate on these rather than fine motor skills, with the thought that until she can easily sit straight and make her hands work together, no point in tackling fine motor skills. THis has turned out to work very well for our daughter. We do swimming, which requires bilateral coordination and strengthens the cores, and is fun. I also found a tae kwon do class through the Lab School in B'more (closer to our house than DC). We tried to get in "regular" martial arts classes but we were told she was too slow (visual processing issues). The tae kwon do has been amazing; all my kids go and love it. You might call the Lab school in DC and see if they have any activities that would be open to your son. And we do a weekly tumbling class at my gym, also to strengthen the core. I'm currently looking into drum lessons for her, which would allow her to play an instrument like her brothers but doesn't require as much hand strength as guitar or coordination as piano.

FWIW, at my daughter's initial eval she couldn't hold scissors in one hand and cut paper - used 2 hands for the scissors. After 2 mos of swimming, tumbling, and tae kwon do (and no OT per se) , she is able to cut out shapes - holding paper in one hand and scissors in the other!!

Good luck to you.

How old is your child now? at time she could cut with scissors?

[Anonymous]

3 weeks before her 4th bday she could not cut with scissors; really ad no idea what to do with them - a month later she could. It's not a miracle or anything close - I don't mean to suggest that. Just that sometimes the fine motor stuff has to do with more than weak hands (her hand strength at her eval was 2% for her age - no idea what it is now). We got very lucky to have had a spot-on diagnosis from Kennedy Kreiger and to find a gifted and generous Tae Kwon Do teacher through Lab School.

[Anonymous]

Hi I am not sure when you posted this but I had my now 3 year old at 29 weeks- we have done swim and it has been amazing for him. Also clothes line clips are great for helping with handwriting the pinching really helps. I don't think anyone would think he was low tone but I always have my concerns due to how early he came. Best, Chloe

[Anonymous]

OP,

I wouldn't rely on the provided services if you're concerned. See a private OT for an assessment.

I also agree with recommendations of gymnastics and/or swimming--great for low tone. GL

(09:19, not getting services doesn't mean your kid is not delayed--just not delayed enough for services. However, we were denied speech services when my kid turned 3--4 years later we're still in speech, privately of course.)