"High Muscle Tone"

So one of Anthony's most challenging issues is muscle tone and movement control. His muscle tone is high "hypertonia". I have a great article on what "muscle tone" is that I am going to try to post for those interested, but here is a summary:

"True muscle tone is the inherent ability of the muscle to respond to a stretch. For example, if you quickly straighten the flexed elbow of an unsuspecting child with normal tone, the biceps will quickly contract in response (automatic protection against possible injury). When the perceived danger has passed, which the brain figures out really quickly once the stimulus is removed, the muscle then relaxes, and returns to its normal resting state.

The child with high tone or "spasticity" has over-reactive response to the same stimulus. When his arm is stretched, the biceps tightens at an even more rapid rate, and the rate of recovery is much slower, even after the stimulus is removed. Full relaxation is difficult to achieve, so the muscle stays taut for an extended period of time. Because this child's muscles never truly rest unless he is asleep, the long term result is tighter, shorter muscles with reduced joint range.

A child's unique neurological wiring determines whether he will be low, high, or normal toned. Most people have "Normal Tone". A delay in perception, decoding, or transmission anywhere along the neural pathways will result in a change from an optimal response, or "normal" tone."