Can hypotonia affect speech?
Low Muscle Tone and Speech Production Both speech and breathing are affected by low muscle tone. Muscles in the mouth and face are used to create sounds, and while children with hypotonia usually have no difficulty understanding, they often have difficulty using expressive language skills.
What can hypotonia affect?
There is a tendency for hip, jaw, and neck dislocations to occur. Some children with hypotonia may have trouble feeding, if they are unable to suck or chew for long periods. A child with hypotonia may also have problems with speech or exhibit shallow breathing.
How does hypotonia affect learning?
Hypotonia May Delay Fine Motor Skills It can have a big impact on simple tasks like handwriting. Kids who have hypotonia may have a poor grip or they may overcompensate by squeezing too tight, which causes pain in their hands, arms, and shoulders.
Does hypotonia cause speech delay?
Hypotonia can affect the ability to move oral structures like the jaw, lips, and tongue. It can also affect the quality and rate of speech, often resulting in slurred or slowed speech.
Is hypotonia a disability?
Some children with benign congenital hypotonia have minor developmental delays or learning disabilities. These disabilities may continue through childhood. Hypotonia can be caused by conditions that affect the brain, central nervous system, or muscles.
Does hypotonia improve with age?
Most hypotonic children eventually improve with therapy and time. By age five, they may not be the fastest child on the playground, but many will be there with their peers and will be holding their own.
How do you fix hypotonia?
If a cure for the underlying cause of hypotonia isn’t possible – as is unfortunately often the case – treatment will mainly focus on trying to improve and support the person’s muscle function. This is done through physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy.
Does hypotonia ever go away?
Hypotonia that’s been inherited will persist throughout a person’s life, although the child’s motor development may steadily improve over time in cases that are non-progressive (don’t get worse). Treatment can also help improve functions such as mobility and speech.
Can a child outgrow hypotonia?
Kids With Hypotonia Will Outgrow It Kids with hypotonia become adults with hypotonia. Along the way, they’ve simply learned how to compensate for their limitations. But without proper hypotonia treatment, poor alignment and other long-term problems can develop.
What are the signs and symptoms of hypotonia?
Other symptoms of hypotonia include problems with mobility and posture, breathing and speech difficulties, ligament and joint laxity, and poor reflexes. Hypotonia does not affect intellect.
How is speech therapy used to treat hypotonia?
Speech-language therapy can help breathing, speech, and swallowing difficulties. Therapy for infants and young children may also include sensory stimulation programs. Hypotonia is a medical term used to describe decreased muscle tone.
What causes muscle weakness in children with hypotonia?
A child with hypotonia may also have problems with speech or exhibit shallow breathing. What causes muscle weakness? Hypotonia can be caused by a variety of conditions, including those that involve the central nervous system, muscle disorders, and genetic disorders.
What can you do for a child with hypotonia?
It can also affect the quality and rate of speech, often resulting in slurred or slowed speech. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) can help your child improve his swallowing and feeding abilities, as well as address his speech delays.