Important Rhetorical Question: Causes Of Idiopathic Toe Walking (Essay Sample)

Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Idiopathic Toe Walking (ITW) is typically presented by a child who can heel-toe walk on request however habitually walks on his or her forefoot (Williams, Tinley and Curtin 1). The first incident of the condition was first diagnosed in 1967 as congenitally short tendo-Achilles, a condition that has been long forgotten by the modern body of research that has adopted the name habitual or idiopathic toe walking (ITW). A study on the condition indicated that the ITW is present in up to 7% of the general pediatric population. Studies have also shown that the history of the family concerning the condition, indicated that families that had it members suffer from the condition heightened the chances of the same being transmitted their children Causes of Idiopathic Toe Walking The causes and etiology of the condition are still unknown (Oetgen and Peden 293). However, the first incidences of the condition reported that a majority of the patients had congenital short tendo calcaneus, which caused toe walking. In as much as this argument is inadmissible, not all patients who toe walk have the congenital short tendo calcaneus. The patients with the conditions showed more preference to toe walking, even though they could easily walk on flat foot whenever asked. Several causes of the condition have been described, these include defects in the perceptive processing that is caused by the lack of barefoot walking by children in developed nations, at the same time it has been associated with type one muscle fibres that are on the biopsy of the gastrocnemius muscles of the human body which implies that the condition could be a disorder. Among other causes associated with the condition include cerebral palsy, congenital muscular dystrophy, tethered code syndrome, diastermotomyelie, autism, schizophrenia, global development delay Charcot-Marie-tooth disease, spina bifida transient dystonic reaction, Venous malformation of the posterior calf muscle, Ankylosing spondylitis congenital or post-traumatic limb-length discrepancy (Oetgen and Peden 294; Williams, Tinley and Curtin 2). Diagnosis Generally, the diagnosis of ITW is one of segregation and requires a comprehensive analysis of the patients' history, thorough physical examination and in some incidences a further diagnostic workup. Among children, idiopathic toe walking is associated with a broad spectrum of pathological processes, and these are neurologic, neuromuscular, developmental, psychiatric and anatomic disorders. The first stage in the evaluation of the patient is the analysis of the patient history. In this regard the account of the patients' prenatal care, birth, development as well as various significant medical events. The anomalies that come out from the analysis of the patients' history leads to further evaluation that exclude the other potential causes that have not been highlighted or touched by the history of the patient. However, it is essential that the history of the child should begin at the point when the child starts walking. Various aspects of the development of the child are taken into account precisely the onset of toe walking, the proportion of time spent toe walking, the ability to walk flat-footed as well as complaints with regards to pain or instability. Additionally, more and more literature have linked autosomal dominant inheritance pattern for ITW thereby calling for the analysis of the family history. The second stage of the diagnosis is the examination. The examination will cover the lower extremities, neurology and the gait pattern. The primary objective of the inspection is to look for a pattern of discrepancies with regards to the length of the leg. At the same time, the examination will evaluate if there is an abnormal muscle development. A comprehensive examination of the sensory system assessing the strengths and sensation testing as well as the assessment of the abnormal reflexes and the abnormalities in the muscle tone of the lower extremities in this manner the doctors as well as the health professionals will be able to establish the cause of the medical condition. Intervention One of the most recommended and use intervention strategy in remediating idiopathic toe walking is the Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) CITATION szo16 \l 1033 (szopa, Domagalska-szopa, and Gallert-Kopyto). This functional analysis is often directed towards descriptive as well as the preliminary assessment of the behavior of an individual. The analysis aims at establishing the reason why the individual engages in the behavior CITATION Slo14 \p 1241 \l 1033 ( Slocum, Detric and Wilczynski 1241). In this manner, the causes of the behavior are disclosed. This intervention strategy begins with the ABC model. In which first A- stands for the antecedent, where are an individual and in this regard a child is requested to act. In this first stage, an action that aims at triggering a specific response from the individual child. The child can be requested to move from point A to point B at this juncture the practitioner will pay close attention to the behavior of the child and how the child responds. The B in the ABC model represents the behavior of the child. In this sense, the behavior will be whether the child toe walks or does not toe walk. If the child's toe walks then it is indeed true that the child has a problem and therefore there is the need for prompt and immediate intervention. Therefore the practitioners have to come up with ...