My Sweet Squishy Girl

One of the most endearing traits that we love about Erin is her soft, huggable, little body.  She is a bit squishy.  She can do the splits with ease, and all her joints are super flexible.  My kids say she has superpowers which allow her to bend and fold in any direction (think Incredibles here...LOL).  Often, this is one of the first things that others notice about Erin.  We call this low-tone.  The official word is hypotonia.

Here is the definition of hypotonia:

Hypotonia is a medical term used to describe decreased muscle tone (the amount of resistance to movement in a muscle).  It is not the same as muscle weakness, although the two conditions can co-exist.  Hypotonia may be caused by trauma, environmental factors, or by genetic, muscle, or central nervous system disorders, such as Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, Prader-Willi syndrome, myotonic dystrophy, and Tay-Sachs disease.  Sometimes it may not be possible to find what causes hypotonia.  Infants with hypotonia have a floppy quality or “rag doll” appearance because their arms and legs hang by their sides and they have little or no head control.  Other symptoms of hypotonia include problems with mobility and posture, breathing and speech difficulties, lethargy, ligament and joint laxity, and poor reflexes.  Hypotonia does not affect intellect.  However, depending on the underlying condition, some children with hypotonia may take longer to develop social, language, and reasoning skills. 

Hypotonia can effect all the muscles in the body, including the ones you don't normally think of, such as intestinal muscles.  Kids with Ds can have hypotonia in some muscles, but not in others.  One area where hypotonia shows up in almost all kids with Ds is the mouth - the oral muscles.  That is one of the main reason why those with Ds have speech delays and difficulty with enunciation.  Have you ever tried to hold a conversation after you've been given novocain for dental work?  That is a pretty close representation of how a lot of kids with Ds feel when trying to speak!  Isn't it amazing how well they do, given this information?!