Why can't my son run?

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Anybody know about this? He kind of skips, hops, walks fast, but never a full-on run with both legs coordinated. What to do?

It would help if we knew how old he was. It's possible he just hasn't developed the coordination yet. Occupational therapy may benefit him, though.

Maybe he just doesn't feel the need, or perhaps it just feels awkward and uncomfortable to him. Are you expecting him to be chased by a mountain lion anytime soon?

I don't really see that anything needs to be done. I don't run because I have a very low lung capacity and even running short distances becomes quickly very painful and makes my chest feel like its going to explode, or I'm simply going to suffocate trying to catch my breath. I'd blame it on smoking, but I had the problem even in elementary school, and I was never an overweight child.

Realistically, in a suburban technological society, its not a crucial survival skill. You can go your whole life without ever needing it - kind of like Algebra.

coordination is not one of the strong suits of many autistics. in fact, an awkward or clumsy gate is really common, as is hypotonia (low muscle tone).

i see from another post of yours that your son is 5. the best thing for him is practice. play games with him that involve movement, work on fast walking and jogging and then eventually into running.

like someone else said, he may benefit from therapy, however i think you would be looking more at physical therapy rather than occupational. for kids, occupational is usually fine motor skills like handwriting and physical is more of the movement coordination and getting around. if you are here in the states, both OT and PT should be something he is evaluated for if he is going to public school.

my asd son is 4 1/2 and has had issues with gross motor skills too. he can run now, but there was a time when it was very awkward and ungainly and didnt look like actual running. i love to watch him because he is a lot like phoebe from friends if you ever saw that episode where she goes running with rachel. her arms fly everywhere and its very "free" =) thats what my son is like. he is gaining more control now and is able to run faster, but he still very often hops, skips, and jumps about instead of running. its just how he prefers to move.

My son just turned 5, and he too has hypotonia. He has had it since he was a baby. As a matter of fact, the fact that he was a late crawler, walker was the first sign to us that something wasn't developing quite right. He did not walk until he was 21 mos. He didn't learn how to jump until he turned 4. He has always struggled with gross motor skills. He has been receiving physical therapy since he was 1 yr. old. He is running pretty good now, but he too likes to wave his arms around. Now when he runs fast, I just say "arms" to him, and he puts them by his side now. LOL! I think physical therapy has helped him very much. I would check into it for your son. If he is in the school system, he should qualify for it. Otherwise, there are private therapists that could help out, and at least give you ideas of how to work with your son.

Yes, he will be 6 soon. I didn't know they offer PT in the schools. Usually it's speech and OT where I am. I have an IEP meeting coming up so I will definitely ask about it.

I take my kids to a childrens' gym class which they absolutely love. They do exercises and run in a circle to music. I just notice his run is more on his toes or with a hop and a skip in between a couple successful strides, then a hop and skip, etc. Does this make sense?

I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take him to private therapy, but alas, I have the crappiest insurance, with high co-pays. My state absolutely sucks with therapy for all special needs kids, not just autism.

dont get too excited about getting PT through the schools tho. my son was assessed but because he can walk fine, even tho he trips a lot, he is considered capable of getting around and didnt quality for PT.

gym classes are great and we just recently found a local gymnastics studio and are looking into classes for our son.

the toe walking is VERY common in autism. i think its one reason running is difficult, because to fully run you should have the heel-toe rocking motion to build speed. i always refer to my sons toe walking as "prancing", since thats what it looks like. and its hard to go fast when you are prancing =) something else i noticed with my own son is that he often moves with his body in front of his feet, so he is leading with his body weight and feet following, rather than the other way around. if your son is doing something similar, it could be one reason why he is interjecting hops or skips in between strides, to keep himself upright so that his body doesnt outpace his feet and make him fall on his face, if that makes sense.

Running is far more complicated then it seems. I have figured out how to run, but I haven't quiet gotten the running in a strait line part done yet. Its very tricky, not to mention all those invisible bumps that always seem to pop up and trip me.

Anyways, don't worry about it. I can assure you that there are far more troubling things in life than hypotonia and poor coordination. Just avoid competitive sports. Other then that, there really isn't much you need to do or worry about.

@azurecrayon, actually it's better to run on the balls of your feet. Less impact, less stress on your joints. Barefoot runners pick that up.

My son is nearly four and just the same he wouldn't run; skip-walked is the best way I can describe it, and walked on his toes, all the usual Autie things, but he runs fine now, although usually flapping his arms and not always looking where he's going! Give it time he'll be fine.

i am aware of that, however that kind of running is also impeded by shoes with a structured heel which is most likely what children will be wearing when playing where they can run. thats why its often practiced by barefoot runners who are not wearing such shoes.

for a child learning to run, especially one like my son with how he carries his body in front of his feet, the heel-toe motion can be vital in learning to lead out with their foot instead of their body. otherwise, their weight is being propelled ahead of their feet and they cant stay upright.

i am curious if other toe-walkers have the same issue with their body leading their feet around? when my son does use his whole foot, they just clump along underneath him with a very heavy plodding step, thumping the ground loudly and without the heel-toe motion, more of a full foot falling. he is much quieter and better balanced when toe walking.

I can't believe my son never picked up toe walking. I honestly don't think he was strong enough to do it in the beginning. Now he runs pretty good. Sometimes, if he is barefoot, he will walk on his heels (LOL).

As far as the physical therapy, it is good if you can get it, but for the most part, I just think working with them on your own is going to give the most results. Since my son started it at 1 yr old, we did see a lot of benefits from it. But now he only gets 30 minutes per week at school, so really the most benefit he gets is outside of school. Just try to take him on walks and places that have wide open fields and let him practice. I think over time, the stronger he gets, these things will correct themselves. For instance, 2 yrs ago, my son could not step up to or off of curbs. I just kept working with him, and now he does it. He couldn't get up and down stairs without a rail, so we installed a child size rail in our house for him to use. He is getting stronger and is almost able to get up without a rail.

Like Tracker said, your son may not be able to do team sports, but there are many other activities he will be able to do.

I couldn't run as a kid either. I was THE absolute slowest runner in my class, that all changed when I was like 12-13 and by the time I was 15 I had coaches begging me to join the track team. If my experience is anything like typical OT and stuff will help but you and him will just have to accept that he'll be late to the party.

Part of the problem as I understand it from 2 different therapists is an inability in kids on the spectrum to coordinate the opposite sides of the body to keep the counter-balance thing going. Do you ever remember your pediatrician asking if your child went up and down steps without putting both feet together on the same step before going on to the next one (there is probably a better way to describe this sorry)? That is evidently a significant developmental stage. The same is true with walking and running, the two sides of your body must go in opposite directions so that forward motion can be made. While most kids figure out walking because going slower there is less trouble with balance but as they start to try to run they can't get the coordination right. Our OT suggested a activity that helps coordinate both sides of the brain body. Tape a big piece of paper to the wall so that the child can draw on it while standing in front of it. Put a crayon or marker in both hands and get them to draw simple shapes at the same time with both hands. This is supposed to help the brain coordinate left and right sides of the body at the same time.