could my daughter have spastic diplegia?

[vanwolf]

I have a 6yo daughter who has always been a little off. She's clumsy and her feet turn in, she toe walks. Her heel cords are so tight she can't even get to neutral, she also has very tight hamstrings and because of this she trips and falls a lot and has trouble walking fast. But to most people she just looks a little clumsyOther issues are that she drools and she has strabismus (which she has had surgery for) Iknow the tight heel cord could be from toe walking but not the hamstrings.
In researching I found that these issues can be signs of spastic diplegia. What really tipped me of was that I found somewhere that strabismus is common in people with spastic diplegia. She had and uneventful birth and has never suffered andy head trauma.
Do you think she could have mild spastic diplegia?
Thanks

[vanwolf]

I forgot to add that she is kgarten this year and doing well academicly. And also that she has a little brother with autism, she has been informally screened for autism as well (only because of the toe walking) but is obviously not on the spectrum.
Thanks again

[qwertyuiop123]

an abnormal gait could mean dopa responsive dystonia which can often be mistaken for cerebral palsy

[jalexand69]

Spasticity is caused by a variety of problems.  My 77 year-old father is thought to have a light case of spastic diplegia, and he has a scissors walk.  For years, everyone thought he imitated his grandfather, who had a limb in his walk.  He never visited a neurologist until he was in his 40s.  By then, he started having problems with osteoarthritis.  Your concerns are real and serious....

Have you considered consulting your child's physician for referral to either a neurologist or physiatrist (physical medicine/rehabiliation)?  If your child does have this problem, she needs to get into exercise therapy soon, before muscle contractures develop, which will cause her problems later in life.  As a doctor told my father, spasticity causes problems later in life when and if arthritis, diabetes, and osteoporsis sets in; each of these problems are combated by moderate exercise.

Her doctor will probably want to order other tests, for sometimes internal glands secrete proteins that are known to affect muscle movement (although I know and endocrinologist and neurological surgeon who dispute this).  Also, there's a breed of spasticity, familial spastic paraparesis, which is runs in families.  A neurologist could handle advice on this.

Some of the best reading comes from the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) and the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.  The Rusk Institute in New York is probably one of the best medical centers for spasticity.  There's also one in Chicago, but I forget its name.

Good luck with your daughter's treatment.....j c

P.S.  Neuromuscular spasticity, according to a movement disorders neurologist I know, does NOT affect cognition, so your daughter should continue doing well in school and life.