Ask a physiotherapist

Joan Chinsen has been working as a physiotherapist for over 20 years, and is presently working with children and young adults who are blind, visually impaired or deafblind at the residential school, W. Ross Macdonald School in Ontario, Canada.

Question:

My 5 year old child has very low tone.  What should I do to help increase muscle tone?

The best thing is to expose them to a variety of motor activities. You can work with the child sitting on the large therapy ball, lying over the ball, both on the tummy and back.  This activity will also help with the development of balance. Other activities you do with the child could be functional based, making sure they are weight bearing during routine activities.  Other activities like riding an adapted tricycle, or using a scooter or switch board are activities all children should enjoy.

(a switch board is a primary level of a scooter but has a handle.)