THE BLOG.

Low muscle tone is a term frequently used within educational and therapeutic circles but less often understood by parents. As a parent of a child with low muscle tone I am aware this term can be both overwhelming, daunting and confusing.

'If my child has low muscle tone why can he climb a jungle gym, run and jump'

'Does this mean he or she has special needs?

'Is this fixable?'

'How can speech problems have implications for my child's tummy muscles'

These are some of the questions that have gone through my mind as a parent and I have been faced with by many of my patients as a therapist.

My experience of working with children with low muscle tone is that muscle groups are connected. Muscles involved in speech production and feeding are highly influenced by larger muscle groups such as those of the core (or tummy muscles) which in turn impact on skills such as cutting, writing and drawing. Children who appear fairly normal with certain gross motor activities may still have overall muscle issues that are most apparent in more refined activities and tasks such as speech production, catching or colouring. In addition muscle tone which one would assume logically would only impact on a child's motor skills in turn has implications for academic performance and concentration due to the influence large muscle groups with weak strength and reduced endurance levels have on a child's ability to maintain posture thereby increasing fatigue of the child within the classroom.

Luckily there are things that can be done to address low muscle tone and its consequences. Working with children with low muscle tone and watching my son go through this process the most important factors I have identified for therapy success are consistency in therapy, involvement of multiple disciplines to target individualised muscle groups and their function as well as the need for intensive practice and consistent homework. As with the gym, building oral or core muscle strength requires regular and consistent effort to ensure improvement of function.

As with all developmental issues if you suspect your child has low muscle tone or is not reaching their milestones as they should the first step is to seek professional advice and guidance as to whether there are issues and what courses of action need to be done. Generally children who have low muscle tone do require and do best when they are receiving more than one therapy to address their muscle tone needs. The length of treatment is very much child dependent but is often a longer term process than we as parents would like. My son has been within therapy for a year and in many ways I feel he is only a quarter of the way through this process. This can at times be frustrating - however having been through this process with many patients before I am aware that a robust programme where we as a family provide full support in conjunction with his educational teams will experience success and ensure his growth socially, emotionally and academically are not compromised.