Do Atutistic kids fall down a lot?

LeeAnn - posted on 01/30/2011

My eldest son (undiagnosed but after his younger brothers diagnosis I now see all the characteristics of Asperger's in him as well) when he was about 4-6 fell down all the time out of the blue. It was like he was doing prat falls, I literally thought he was because he had watched a slapstick comedy routine that had lots of that. Long story short he did grow out of it. Oh and he fell off the arm of the sofa watching Sesame Street and broke his forearm at age 3.
Best wishes,

Sally - posted on 01/29/2011

My little girls Daddy is very likely to have been living with Aspergers Syndrome all his life with out a diagnosis.There are many seeds in our relationships demise that are found on the tree called Autism Spectrum that I did not know anything about before marrying him but atleast as an adult when asked whether he might do some of his own research he did so and with a sigh of relief found empathy with some much of the challenges facing those with it and caring for those with it. Having learnt a lot since then and been carefully monitoring things I was thinking that we might have been lucky enough to have missed out on any significant follow through from this in our two children (my little 41/2 year old girl and her brother who is 15 months now) but in desperation at my lack of empathy and war weary attitude to my eldests frequency of falls I put in a search and found this site. Thank you for all your answers, I will see if I can up the ante on the OT core strengthening excersies and its great to hear for some that this has actually made a difference. Ear infections have been ruled out in this instance. Has any one had any success with helping them to see what they do not see - at times its like the walls and floor jump out and hit her. I'm just flabbergasted at how often it happens and the howling banshee imitation she does with such gusto when this happens - whether the hurt was minor or big hurt is incredible.

Yours with the greatest respect for all your efforts and big hearts
Sal

Morgan - posted on 10/05/2010

My 3 year old is VERY CLUMPSY! It's almost like he doesn't watch where he is going. I was told that some children on the spectrum have very poor gross motor skills..this would explain the bumps and bruises on my sons head, elbows and knees.

Shelley - posted on 10/05/2010

mine does he is 3.5 but he does have tibal torrision basically he has twisted legs & is still shakey on uneven surfaces plus he just does not pay attention to what his legs/feet are doing. My specialist told me just last month that often speech & walking issues go hand in hand. I think most people are understanding & that the school knows how he plays.

Kristie - posted on 10/04/2010

My 3yr old son who has PDD-NOS is constantly falling over. He is forever moving too fast for his feet and forever falling, tripping and banging himself. The little guy is always covered in bruises from head to toe. He has a rather high pain tollerance so he is unaware of the bumping and banging he has done to his body. Thankfully he has never broken a bone, but I am sure his time will come sometime soon!!.xx

Sharon - posted on 10/04/2010

My boy has ASD and from the age of about 1 till just after his third birthday he was constantly falling and hitting his head in the same spot - he now has a permanant bump there. He seems a bit better now but just a few months age he fell and hit his head ( same spot) on the corner of the wall. I used to think it was just us but some tof the mums with ASD kids I have spoken to talk about the clumsiness.

Ava - posted on 10/03/2010

Yes, falling down a lot / loss of coordination or balance is a symptom of autism. My daughter also falls down constantly. She also purposely smashes her head off of the floor or objects when she has tantrums, so we're wondering if she is also on the spectrum like me.

Zenzele - posted on 10/03/2010

This is due to proprioceptive deficits which many children on the spectrum have to deal with. Proprioceptive is the ability to know where you are in space. Having the ability to feel grounded. The individual my have poor body awareness. Bumps into objects or people. May be rigid or uncoordinated and seeks more vigorous activities than other children. This child may also crave bear hugs and being squeezed and pressed. With this is mind what may be helpful in the immediate is giving bear hug like squeezes throughout the day periodically. Please make sure to consult with a Occupational Therapist that has experience in dealing with sensory integration and processing disorders. This is their area of work. They will have very good tips that you can do with your son.
My daughter only has one proprioceptive issue and that is needing the sensory squeezing I mentioned earlier. Your son appears to have a few areas that need attention by the OT.

Megan - posted on 10/02/2010

My son is actually surprisingly coordinated and that brings up a whole different realm of problems. One of his teachers actually caught him as he was leaping from the counter to one of the tables about 5 ft away. They hadn't even thought of a kid trying to use the stool to get up on the counter and so had not been prepared for one to do that. It happens, I think if the teachers know him well they will understand but you might want to bring it up with your doctor so there is some documentation that you expressed concern somewhere.

Summer - posted on 10/02/2010

My son is always getting hurt and falling down. We have been to emergency room too many times...Every doctor we have and go to, I make sure to let them know about his clumsiness and how floopy he is. His nursery school is also aware and they have seen all his accidents. Jusy make sure its documented and all doctors are aware of his problems.

Jeannette - posted on 10/02/2010

yes and no occupational therapy can work wonders with core stability which will mean less accidents, to be on the safe side though it is always advisable with alot of accidents, falls inparticular to get a cat scan done for piece of mind, constant falling can be linked to many neurological issues.

Sheila - posted on 01/12/2010

Hi Kristy,

often times children with autism have a difficult time assessing where they are in terms of spatial relationships/body awareness. My son has literally walked off steps into air more times than I can count (missing the bottom step) I always count steps, or say little step, little step if we are on a new set of stairs. If the stairs are not standard, (like at our local library, they go up in a spiral) we take an elevator.

I am drawing a blank, but there is actually a term for this... can't believe I can remember the word!! ARGH!

Anyways, if it wasn't for holding his hand, he would be taking headers all the time!

Sheila

Renee - posted on 01/10/2010

Were you a witness to the other two broken arms? In general kids with autism do tend to be kind of floppy or just unaware of their surroundings and inpending danger. Kids with low muscle tone probably fall down more often and compounded with not looking at where they are going would make it hghly likely they will get hurt. If you hadn't already recieved them I would get written accident reports from the school, it's the law here in AZ when any child gets injured at the school. That way it's documented and if there is a question with CPS, you have the accident reports.

Paula - posted on 01/10/2010

My 5 yr old autistic son always runs around and get hurt. He alway's hit the left side of his face. Only the left. I've only recieved a call from the CPS one due to a subsitute teacher who never worked with my son before. His teacher knows my son and he has alot of accidents and near misses at school. He physically or mentally can not stop running around. In addition to he doesn't look where he's going, I'm worried a bit that people would say something about his bruises. If anybody said anything though, I'll tell them to "spend 5mins with him and you'll see for yourself"...If he always bumps into his arms my get him some protective padding. I'm almost at that point with my son.