With or without therapy, the average child with Down syndrome is still going to walk at about 24 months of age. So now that I ve just about convinced you that physical therapy isn t worth your time and money, let me say that physical therapy is one of the most important services that the child with Down syndrome will receive in the early intervention period, and it is during this time that physical therapy will have the greatest impact. Let me explain some of the reasons that I recommend it. Tone refers to the tension in a muscle in its resting state. The amount of tone is controlled by the brain.
Hypotonia means that that tone is decreased.
It is most easily observed in children with Down syndrome when they are infants. When you pick up a baby with Down syndrome, you will notice that he feels floppy or somewhat like a ragdoll. If you put him on his back, his head will turn to the side, his arms will fall away from his body and rest on the surface, and his legs will fall open. This floppiness is due to hypotonia. Hypotonia affects each child with Down syndrome to a different degree.