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tip toe walking

my 6 year old boy still walks on his tip toes he saw a pediatrician when he was 2 years old and all was o.k. When i ask him if it hurts when he walks properly which is very rare he say s no so i thought it was a habit. He has also had problems with choosing a dominant hand to write with although he does everything else with his left hand. the school has now got me worried saying that not having a dominant hand to write with and tip toeing can be connected and that i should get him checked out again is this true please help a worried mother.
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Avatar universal
NO NO NO!!!!!!! Not everything we do alittle differently is a form of Autism!!!! I deal with it every day with two young nephews so I DO KNOW alittle more about it than the average person!  Please stop labeling everything Autism--- hundreds of babies start out on their toes and work out of it after awhile-- if not then see specialist!  Oh, by the way-- NEITHER of my nephews walked on tip toes!!!!   Get educated  on the subject, please!!
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Avatar universal
Hi, I'm 21 and have tip-toed all my life and have been through many painful procedures because I wouldn't listen to my mum and walk properly. My tip-toe walking has led to numerous physio problems, and has resulted in several operations. Take your boy to the doctor, but I'd suggest you just start telling him off if he doesn't walk properly- my parents just let me do it for a while until I started getting problems. Because I walked on my toes for so long I've now got extremely large, hard painful callouses on the balls of my feet, have had metal rods put in several of my toes to straighten them in order to support my tip-toe walking, have to have fortnightly deep muscle massage which is extremely painful and am now waiting to have another painful operation called an open-heel tenotomy. I'll always have problems with my legs now, and its started to affect my knees and hips. I even have to wear geeky leg braces in bed.

kec89 probably isnt a habitual toe-walker so its very different- I lack the ability to walk flat-footed- its excrutiatingly painful when I try to do so......I suggest he gets out of this habit now!
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Avatar universal
My husband is a toe walker and has been all his life, he's 63.  He was an avid runner and ran on his toes as well.  Extremly bright and very well educated.  Some people can do things equally well with both hands. I wouldn't worry about this, I think people are too quick to satrt labeling kids these days.  
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539750 tn?1226521677
My nephew does this, I have heard it can be a tendon issue int he ankle/heel...?
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Avatar universal
I've been walking on my tiptoes my whole life and I'm 21. My dad did it too.

I also like being barefoot and while I write with my right hand, I do many things with my left hand as well, I'm pretty much split between right and left. I don't have any developmental problems, but when I've always been clumsy, that might be a motor skills thing.

I don't think it's anything to worry about. Someone pointed out my tiptoe walking and said it was strange so I looked it up and a lot of people say it's autism or aspbergers or even CP. They also said that there are very few, if any adult tiptoe walkers. I guess my dad and I proved them wrong? Some people suggested ways to correct it and a lot of people were worried about bullying. I've never had it corrected and never was bullied and I don't have any disorders.

I don't think you have anything to worry about and I wish people wouldn't think it was so worrisome. If it bothers kids to walk on their flat feet, just let them walk on their toes, it feels nice.
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Avatar universal
Walking on your toes at an early age is a sign of autism( or so they say)-----but the other desciptions certainly don't indicate it. I would advise you take your son to a Pediatric Developmentalist, not just a gp or family doc. All kids have little qwirks, give him love and I'm sure everything is ok.
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Avatar universal
I am very interested in what responses you have received.  I have a boy 4 3/4's.  At 4 he occasionally started walking on his tippy toes.  Not all the time, but often enough.  He loves to run and said he did this because it made him super fast.  He also likes to go barefoot.  He too had a hard time choosing a dominant hand for writing.  Both my mother and my husbands mom's are lefty so we thought that perhaps he was a lefty, but he has now chosen to be a righty.  He is extremely verbal and friendly, social , active and fun.  He has small motor skills issues as he is not good with his hands. He isn't interested in drawing and cutting but we encourage it every day.  Other than that he plays, soccer, gymnastics, mini golf, baseball rides a two wheeler.  
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