Hypotonia = Happiness?

Patrick is happy like most (if not all) the kids I personally know, so nothing to be amazed about it here. He didn't enjoy much to be around toddlers, but he would get along very well with people that were on his same speed. I think most parents get to hear from other people that our children are "good", "smart", "cute", "big", and "happy" kids. But I not only get to hear that about Patrick, but also, people constantly comment with amusement, about his very own personality, stating they haven't met a kid so "content, laid back, warm, smiley, sweet and easy going" as Patrick is.

Patrick had just met his auntie from Mexico

Meeting our friends from Florida for first time

1st time meeting great auntie!

Even then, I always thought this was the case for most kids. But then as I started reading blogs and forums about children with hypotonia, one thing that every parent always said about their daughter or son was: "She/he is always happy, the happiest, laid back kid I know". Most of them, had 3, 4, 5 children, and somehow, of all their children, the one with hypotonia seemed to be the happiest one. So, if there is something special about their condition, that makes them more content, laid back, warm, smiley, sweet and easy going than "normal" kids, what is it?

So here I'm trying to come up with an answer. Below are some thoughts.

Patrick's Oculomotor Apraxia

Patrick's Oculomotor Apraxia is not progressive. Patrick's MRI showed no indication of Joubert Syndrome, or any other syndrome. Patrick has shown gross and fine motor delays (which have improved significantly), borderline speech delay, but no cognitive nor social delay whatsoever. So all in all, so far we can say that of all Oculomotor Apraxia cases, Patrick has a mild to moderate case.

What is Oculomotor Apraxia?

Congenital Ocular Motor Apraxia or Oculomotor Apraxia (OMA) is a rare disorder where the person is unable to move the eyes smoothly to follow objects horizontally.

Still confused?

Think of a woman passing by in front of you. The person is walking from left to right and you follow her with your eyes, but don't move your head! Just move your eyes from left to right slowly, following the person walking. Usually people can do this without any problem. People with Oculomotor Apraxia can't. Their eyes will follow the person, but couple seconds later the eyes jerk, making them lose sight of her, having to move their heads to try to catch up to where she is now.

Cognitive Development

Children's development can be classified in 5 different areas:

1. Gross Motor Skills
2. Fine Motor Skills
3. Feeding Skills
4. Speech Skills
5. Cognitive Skills

Some may also add Sensory Processing Skills (vision, auditory, touch, taste and smell) and Social Skills.

I think is important to dedicate a post about Patrick's cognitive development. Children with Oculomotor Apraxia usually have no cognitive development issues. Most times, Oculomotor Apraxia is part of a bigger health problem, like Joubert Syndrome, and in these cases, cognitive development is most likely affected. But, for kids like Patrick, whose only problem is a slightly underdeveloped Cerebellum Vermis, cognitive development is not affected.