Low Muscle Tone/Postural Disorder

Normal muscle tone runs along a continuum...some kids seem to have "high muscle tone," and even though it is a bit on the high side, it is still on the high end of "normal."  The same is true for kids who appear to have "low muscle tone."  Of course we have seen high and low muscle tone issues in kids with neurological insults or conditions. So, what if your child or student seems to have low tone, but there's nothing that really "caused" it? Sometimes kids have a sensory based motor disorder that is more specifically, a "postural disorder."  The overall issue with this is low muscle tone.  Underneath all of this low tone is underlying weakness, particularly in the core muscles.  Kids with a postural disorder may:

• slouch
• seem loose or floppy
• have poor oral motor control
• have poor core stability
• have poor bilateral coordination (the ability to use 2 hands together in a coordinated way)
• have poor balance
• have poor visual skills

Parents often see their child's low tone in the way that they sit and the way that they eat.  

One way to increase muscle tone and to improve some of the above mentioned deficit areas is to tap into the vestibular system.  That is, to use movement (gravity, speed and position).  The vestibular system directly influences muscle tone and posture.

Some motor activities and postures/positions to use with kids that can improve core muscles and influence posture:

• Have your child sit on a therapy ball (if slightly less than fully filled, kids have to use their core a bit more to balance).
• Up on their knees on a chair while doing work, reaching or while doing something at the table
• Doing activities in a pivot prone position- this is a position that you would often see infants who are not yet crawling in.  On their tummy, reaching with their arms, with their weight in their middle;  their tummy being the "pivot point" from which they are moving.  This is can also be done while on their tummy on a scooter board.

Pivot prone position on the scooter.

• Holding the following positions, or completing activities while in these positions: supine flexion (lying on their backs, curling up into a flexed position), on hands and knees, tall kneeling (kneeling on their knees, back straight), half kneeling.
• Have your child sit on a stool up to a table or counter, so that his/her feet do not touch the floor.  This requires them to kick in their core muscles to keep their balance.  
• While seated at their desk, turn their chair around and have them sit up to the desk/table in that manner.
• Facilitate some extension through the trunk by having your child or student lay on their tummy on a scooter board, and pull them along by having them hold onto a hula hoop,  or have them lay on a platform swing and have them reach out to grab various items from you or from off of the floor as they swing towards you.

This little pumpkin has low tone, and has difficulty extending against gravity~
 loves the swing, though!