Deborah,

        Sometimes we get hung up on labels. You have to ask yourself,
"Would it make a very significant difference in the way I feed, wash, or
hug Zachary if I
knew whether or not he was hypotonic, spastic, etc. If you answer the
question honestly, I think the answer would be "No." We are intrigued by
diagnoses and diagnostic labels, but despite what you might think, many
such diagnoses are subjective guesses. I was always taught that there were
few, if any, pure types of CP and the best "guesses" were based on what
pathological reflexes were still present or not present.

Bobby

>Hello all, just a quick question or two.
>First question, is there a difference between general hypotonia, overall
>or centralized hypotonia? I have seen all of these in different doctors
>reports regarding Zachary.  I know he has it worse in his abdomen, face
>and hands, but his whole body is basically low tone.
>Second question, can hypotonic children be spastic at times ? Zachary
>seems to be very stiff when he first wakes up, and he does this thing I
>call "stiffing" when he is throwing a fit.  That is where his hands go in
>a tight fist (with thumb tucked in of course) and his legs go straight out
>and becomes so stiff you cannot hardly bend them at all.
>I guess I have three questions, sorry.  Third question being, how would
>they classify Zachary if his arms and hands are more affected than his
>legs and feet with the face,cheeks, jaw and neck affected as well ?
>Sorry for all the questions, but they have been nagging at me for awhile.
>Thank you,
>Deborah mom of 4