Essay --

Arthrogryposis is a disorder in which a child is born with joint contractures; this means some of their joints may be stuck in one position (curved or crooked). Children born with this disorder may have thin, weak, stiff, or missing muscles around these joints. The most common cause of arthrogryposis is fetal akinesia which is where the baby doesn’t move around a lot in the womb during development. Extra tissue can form in the joints making movement more difficult for the child to move. The reasons that fetal akinesia can take place may be because the womb was abnormally shaped so there wasn’t enough room for the baby to move around, amniotic fluid may have leaked out of the womb, or the baby’s parts did not form normally such as joints, bones, and muscles. They have also found that in approximately one third of the children who have this disorder have been determined to be a genetic cause. Approximately one in three thousand children are born with this disorder and it does not progress over time. There does not appear to be any precedence as to sex or race and it is developed at conception. There are several types of Arthrogryposis which include Amyoplasia, Distal, Classic, and Syndromic. According to the Shriners hospitals for children, Amyoplasia is an overall lack of muscular development and growth with contracture, a loss of joint motion, and deformity of most joints. Babies with this type have dense fibrous tissue and fat instead of skeletal muscle. Distal affects several joints usually in the hands and feet, and range of motion may be slightly limited. Classic usually affects the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, feet and knees with different degrees of severity. The most severe case can affect almost joint ... ...osture and weight bearing strength. In conclusion, children with arthrogryposis benefit from therapy; early intervention is important so they will not have further delays in performing tasks. Adaptive equipment can be provided to these patients so they can complete their ADLs and succeed in self-care skills. Having a supportive family is very important to these children. Children with this condition need a lot of encouragement and motivation from the people they love the most. If a family is not involved in their childs life it may cause other problems as well such as lacking emotional regulation skills or further delays in other skills from lack of opportunity. For these children to make progress, therapy should not only be worked on with the occupational therapist, but it should be carried over into the home too. Encouragement from loved ones is really the trick.