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Special Needs
malcivar
member
Jumping and climbing stairs
malcivar
member
So, the center DS goes to has been bugging and bugging and bugging us about getting him evaluated for PT. We believe it's mostly because he's bow-legged and in toes. Believe me, he's come a long way in the last 16 months. They were fiercely bowed when he was a year old and while still bowed, they are nothing like they were before. If anything they're more of an aesthetics issue than a functional one. So they switched tactics and made a whole case about his weak trunk and how it was affecting his speech. I was uneasy about this because when we had our monthly meeting at the center, even his speech therapist seemed wishy washy about the whole PT eval. But not ones to be THOSE parents, we relented and it's this Friday.
I talked to the evaluator today and we went over what he can or can't do and the subject of DS jumping and/or climbing stairs unassisted came up. He does neither and she said that this would be something that 2 year olds should typically be doing.
So my question to you all is - do your kids jump and/or climb stairs unassisted? If yes, when did they do it?
I'm not too concerned but after talking to the therapist I'm questioning if I should be concerned.
Thanks!
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Re: Jumping and climbing stairs
My LO has been climbing stairs for a long while. He climb my older sons bed ladder at 11 months, one month b4 he was walking!!! ( I almost crapped my pants when I went in to check on him and he'd climb all the way to the top of the six foot ladder!!!) His gross motor has always been advanced, now we're concerned where his speech is at!
GL!
My DD1 (dx autism) was definitely doing both before two -- I know she was jumping way before she was due for that milestone. Maybe by 18-month-ish on the stairs (which she had been crawling up and down since like nine months).
DD2 (typical, 23 months) can walk up and down stairs alone. We teach our kids stairs early so we don't have to gate them.
But her jumps are more like bouncing up and down with her knees and I don't think her feet actually come off the ground yet, 95% of the time.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
When we originally had our EI evaluation at age 2 I remember them specifically testing him for this. My DS could go up and down stairs indepentdently at age 2, holding the railing in a step to step pattern. But as we closed in on age 3 they wanted thim alternating feet, which he wasn't able to do. He is just now recently (at almost age 4) able to go up the stairs without the railing and alternating feet. Its takes a lot of effort on his part and he is quite proud of himself when he is able to do it.
My son didn't even really attempt any sort of jumping until around age 3. I remember the EI therapist constantly asking me if he could "jump off a bottom stair" he never could and never even tried. My son still doesn't jump the way the PT wants him to. He jumps but not w/ both feet simulteanously - he always slightly leads with his right foot.
Our PT has mentioned some weaknesses with DS around crossing the midline, balance issues, and low tone. FWIW - I would have never ever assumed he had any gross issues myself - he is generally able to handle most gross motor situations, at the playground, etc. But I would call my kid "cautious". It was onlly after we entered the school system that we began w/ PT.
I think you are doing the right thing to go forward w/ the PT eval - even if it only uncovers subtle weaknesses, helping him to strengthen those areas can do wonders for other things.
Good Luck!
I will admit I do get a little defensive about it but it's mostly because of our first experience. He had a PT evaluation way back when he first started EI and it was done so poorly that it just left a bad taste in our mouth. DS has bow legs - he sees an orthopedist regularly and we told the evaluator this and she completely dismissed it and suggested a Denis Browne bar for bow legs. We'd had this conversation with our orthopedist already and he'd suggested KAFOs as a last resort and not Denis Browne bar. She also kept saying how these were the worst bow legs she'd ever seen. It's all she kept going on about. At one point, DH had to ask her if there was anything else she was going to test him on. Bottom line - it was pretty badly. So naturally when the school brought it up, our hackles went up, even more so when our first progress meeting was dominated by talk of his bow legs and his in-toeing. Yes we're aware, yes he sees a doctor, they're getting better, now can we talk about everything else you're doing with him here? No? Ok, yes we'll ask for another PT evaluation? So at the next meeting, we expected more of the same except this time, they backed off significantly and said that now their concerns were about his trunk. And it was after this 2nd meeting that their rationale made a whole lot more sense than all the talk about his bow legs. So we started really pushing our service coordinator about getting this done.
As for aesthetics, I know - I wore braces twice in my life - and I still have crooked teeth, lol. What upset me then was that everyone seemed to be concentrating on how bowed his legs were and not on everything else. I promise you I'd take bow legs any day over everything else, know what I mean?
I think if the center had started with the hypotonia of the trunk explanation before instead of the "are you aware his legs are bowed?" approach, it would've gone a lot smoother. I couldn't believe it when we had that conversation - no, I'm actually not aware thanks so much for pointing that out, lol AAAAA!!!
He does "speed crawl" up the stairs and can make his way down stairs fairly quickly, though he does scoot mostly. If you're holding his hand, he can do it too and I have also seen him hold on to a hand rail. He just doesn't do it very fluidly, know what I mean?
As for jumping, we think he's starting to get it because he's doing a lot more bouncing on his knees if he's on a bed and when he "jumps" off the bed (so that either DS or I can catch him) he does bend his knees and push off. I do think that maybe his legs (and feet) might be the issue with jumping.
We'll see how Friday goes. The evaluator I spoke with was really nice and very helpful, big difference from evaluator #1 and did look at things very realistically so she said that even if he wasn't deemed eligible she would definitely give us a list of activities/exercises we could do with DS to build up these skills. I feel a lot more comfortable/confident about this evaluation this time around.
Aww, thanks!
DS is 30 months and cannot climb stairs or jump on his own. NOT being able to do this by age 2 is a red flag for gross motor delays (which I was not aware of then). DS has been in EI since he turned 2 for a speech delay.
After a re-eval (at the suggestion of a developmental pediatrician), he also has sensory issues and gross motor delays. Not jumping at 28 months (when evaluated) automatically gave him a 33% delay. So we added OT and PT to his existing services.PT started this week. The therapist feels that he will do well with PT and should catch up developmentally relatively quickly. So I think a PT eval is a GOOD idea and catching something early can make a big difference.
Apparently both Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan have low tone.
Bronx Zoo: Summer 2013
To read my blog, click on the giraffe pic below!
To answer your question. Yes, my child was expected to do both by age 2...she wasn't so it became a PT goal (she was already in PT). She did both easily by 27 months.
I would be concerned and would really consider adding PT to his therapy mix.
I asked this question to our PT. My son is on the other side - 95+ %tiles for both height and weight, and I asked if they took size into consideration when looking at motor / balance skills. My thinking was that because my son had more body height and weight to manage, that could impact climbing and other gross motor stuff. Like you see a big football lineman isn't as quite coordinated as most quarterbacks, kwim?
The answer was no. That the skills are aged based, and that there is a range of skills that kids should acheive by a certain age regardless of their stature. Her reason was that your body should adapt to what it needs to do based on its own size.
That was the answer I got on that. I'm still not sure I 100% am on board with it, but I'm not expert in the area, so.
My DD could not jump or climb stairs at 2. In fact, she didn't climb stairs until almost 3, and still, at nearly 5, doesn't always do alternating feet. Yes, I would consider PT and/or OT. Jumping and stairs (as well as vocalizing some fears) were the primary indicators of what was going on with DD's gross motor delays. Turns out she has low tone in her core, as well as a sensory issue with her vestibular system affecting crossing midline and balance.
I would definitely seek out the input of a PT.
My oldest was in EI for speech and I was a bit shocked at the worry of jumping thing too. He didn't do it at 2 and he could do stairs ok but he'd had very little exposure. Heck he's 4 and if we're out he'll often reach for my hand as we go down stairs yet we spent a week a my mom's beach house and he and my 3 year old lived on the stairs, flying down them on their bellies and all kind of crazy stuff.
I'd practice the jumping with him and see how he does. My opinion would be that it's more important if he tries to follow your lead, copy you, practice with you. If he gets steadier as he does it ect. then if he simply can or can not do it, kwim? The stairs also come to down to exposure, imo, now if he tackles stairs on his hands and knees as opposed to even trying to walk and hold the rail and your hand then those are important differences to note. If you have stairs at home and he's not comfortable on them then I'd say that's a concern but if he's been on stairs a handful of times in his life then ehh, I'd find some stairs and practice with him like the jumping thing and see how he progresses.
Damn. I was hoping our move to a cul-de-sac house was the cure-all.
Guess that was good money down the drain.
I wasn't 100% sure that was true, but I had read that on several sites and hoped it was true, because I would like to see Aaron do well in physical activities?possibly because I was so uncoordinated and a terrible athlete. That being said, he could hate athletics and I won't push anything on him.
I don't fully understand what low tone means. My DS's therapists have all said that his case is mild and that his muscle tone should improve over time.
Bronx Zoo: Summer 2013
To read my blog, click on the giraffe pic below!