Consequences of Low Muscle Tone and Other Characteristics Peculiar to Down Syndrome

Low muscle tone is in part responsible for the delay in development of gross and fine motor skills in infants with Down Syndrome. It is also partially to blame for the late development of speech. Therefore it is important for therapies to begin as early as possible (with the okay from your child's physician). A physical therapist will teach you how to help your child develop his gross motor skills and how to help your baby improve his muscle tone. An occupational therapist will help with fine motor skills, and a speech therapist with communication and speech.

When ears are small, as they quite often are in babies with Down Syndrome, there is a chance the wax and skin cells usually present in the ear canal will lead to blockage of the canal. There are also an increasesd number of colds and ear infetions due to your child's weaker immune system. This can affect your child's hearing. For this reason it is very important your child have regular checkups and hearing evaluations. Your baby's hearing will usually be usually tested before he leaves the hospital. Be sure to keep all papers you are given with test results as you may need to refer to them later. I highly recommend starting a notebook/binder and keeping all your child's medical papers in it. A Care Notebook is also very helpful.

This will be addressed more fully on another page.

Eye problems are quite common in children with Down Syndrome so your child should be evaluated yearly, or more frequently, by a pediatric opthalmologist.

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