[peanutmommy]

The waiting child that we are considering has overall low muscle tone. She has speech delays as a result and has difficulty going from a sitting position to a standing position. I was wondering if any of you have information on what remedies this. What can be done to help her when we get her home?

Thanks and God bless!

Dawn

[LadyBugz]

Motor and speech therapy (and I don't know all the other technical terms of related therapies that other moms can fill you in on.)


Do you know why she has these problems? I saw a post yesterday which cited a study of a Hermann Loser (that o has an umlaut, but my keyboard does not), a German medical doctor who followed hundreds of FAS patients for 20 years. Low muscle tone and speech problems both were indicators of FAS. I am not an expert on FAS/FAE, but I would think if your child's low muscle tone and speech problems stem from FAS as opposed to something else, it might change the way you do therapy.

I would be interested in other moms' viewpoints who have been there/done that.

-Mary

[peanutmommy]

I'm not sure. She was a preemie but her brain scans have all come back normal. FAS is a strong possibility although her chart says nothing about it. I do know that her mother was a drug abuser so alcohol was very likely involved as well. She has that "look" about her face. It says she has facial dysmorphism on her chart but it's not plainly obvious. We are still in the beginning stages of this adoption. I am anxious to get her home already and have some testing done on her because her file that we received is so vague and incomplete.

[Kimberj71]

Our son who was born in Guatemala has low muscle tone. He came home at 6.5 months old, was unable to sit on his own and could not reach out in front of himself to grab and object. He could grasp things if he was lieing on his back to stablize himself. He is now 15 months old and been home just under 9 months. He is sitting, crawling, and just took his first steps today! Every new little accomplishment is reason for celebration.

We have had him in physical therapy since he was 8.5 months old. We went once a week to begin with, he also had torticollis (shortening of the neck muscle) and then went twice a month and are now going once every 3 to 4 weeks. He just got orthotics in April to help him stablizie his ankles so that he can bend his knees and learn proper foot alignment.

We are very pleased with his progress. He is quite the trooper. At 15 months old, it's difficult to say whether he has speech delays. I'm guessing he has slight delays and we will most likely be going to speech therapy in the future.

Our son's low tone is most likely due to a poor interuterine environment. It is very likely that there was not enough amniotic fluid for him inutero which did not allow for movement (he came to us with plagiocephaly as well...a flathead) which caused his flattened head, torticollis, and some of the tone issues he has. I also believe low tone can be a genetic trait.

There is a continuum of muscle tone, so it's not like you're normal, low or high. Would it be possible to find out how low, low is? And then approach various pediatricians and/or physical therapists for more information regarding this particular little one's potential therapy?

Good luck in bringing your little one home!

Kim

[boyfromulanude]

Dear Kim,
I'd like to seriously suggest for you to study out Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Our son had the low muscle tone, not able to even sit at 12 months, he was 10% the growth charts, etc. We thought surely we can handle this.... the judge asked us "WHY DO YOU WANT A CHILD WITH SO MANY NEEDS?"
While we LOVE PEYTON, his "needs" are many. We are having his 2 year "Gotcha Day" this July & the doctor appt.s are no where near done. He needs to have eye surgery to reposition the mucles on the eye balls. His hole in his heart is now closed...... There were far more medical things than what we saw back then. GO here:
http://www.nofas.org/default.aspx

And here is more info for you.
Our son was adopted from Siberia, Russia in July 2003. We have just recently been told by the neurologist that Peyton is thought to have FAS. Our fears have just been confirmed. We have really only just begun Peyton's journey....
Many of the parents writing have been asking for a list of "things to look for." I wish we had this list 2 years ago. Peyton is all over this list personally. I HOPE & PRAY THAT THIS LIST WILL HELP YOU & YOUR FAMILY AS IT HAS HELPED OURS.
While we are VERY THANKFUL to have Peyton, we are also VERY THANKFUL to know what the problem has been. This list has helped us tremendously!

Sincerely,
Beth

FAS Physical Abnormalities
Studies by Prof.Dr.med. Hermann Löser from the University Childrens Clinic, Münster, Germany. He has followed hundreds of FAS children for over 20 years. His results are in "Ratgeber zur Alkoholembryopathie" published by Lambertus Verlag Freiberg.
98% are under normal height and weight
84% Microcephalic
89% Mental and Motor Retardation
80% Speech impediments
20% Hearing problems
20% Swallowing/Feeding problems
72% Hyperactive
58% Slack muscles
20% Autism/Aggressive/Social Problems
95% Facial anomalies
29% Heart defects
10% Kidney defects
46% Genital deformities
25% Eye problems
16% Bent crooked little finger
51% Shortened and bent little finger
13% Underdeveloped fingers
9% Hip deformaties
16% Small teeth
30% Pidgeon Chest
7% Concave chest
7% Cleft palate
44% Spinal dimple
12% Hernia
35% Hairgrowth on back of neck
Premature birth


Pray Kim. This is a life long journey that you are about to undertake. We had NO IDEA what this would mean for us on a daily basis. While we had a hunch that this was fetal alcohol the truth is everyone said no.... NOW they are saying YES! We do love Peyton. His needs are many.
We will pray for your decision. It is a difficult one to make.
BETH

[tybeemarie]

I don't know a lot about low muscle tone, so I can't help you there. But we have a sibling group of 3 from foster care, ages 6, 7, and 9, and the youngest 2 have been diagnosed FAS. We had no idea when we got them 6 months ago. FAS was one of two things we knew we couldn't handle. The other was attachment disorder. Well, guess what? In addition to the FAS, my oldest is showing CLEAR signs of attachment disorder, and all 3 have PTSD. Oh, and they were all born cocaine exposed, although there's only "proof" on the youngest. We love them very much and are anxious to adopt. Miraculously, our kids' FAS has not resulted in the more severe problems. They have average to slightly below average IQ's. They function well in regular education, although they are behind due to a lifetime of abuse and neglect and the horrendous public school system. They do have memory problems, and we're getting them an OT evaluation for sensory integration, fine motor, and visual perceptual issues. There is a spectrum with FAS, and we are fortunate our kids are on the mild end. My attachment disordered child, who is not FAS, is MUCH, MUCH harder to deal with.

The previous poster is right. FAS is very serious, very insidious, and I think, goes largely undiagnosed in foster care. It is absolutely something to think and pray over, as she said. I was floored when I researched FAS, and turned down placements where FAS was present. And now, unbeknownst to me, I am the mother of FAS kids, and they're a joy to parent. You just never know--but you should still do the research and listen to both your head and heart. Good luck, and let us know how things go!