ATHETOSIS
The athetoid child is one of the most perplexing children there is to work with. He is generally an extremely happy child, a delightful, cheerful, optimistic, bright child, whose progress is often extremely slow and difficult. The athetoid child's muscles, although a bit hyper (increased) in tone, react in very abnormal fashion, and the harder the child tries to correct an activity the more uncontrolled his movements become The abnormal motor function of the athetoid is in the form of excessive movement and uncontrolled movement. This uncontrolled movement increases with the child's effort to move with his level of excitement or with environmental stimulation. With excessive stimulation, the athetoid's body flails rapidly and wildly. With relaxation, the abnormal function decreases, and with sleep, disappears. The athetoid, upon stimulation, assumes an "extensor thrust" position which is characterized by the arms being rapidly extended outward and back, with the palms of the hands toward the floor and fingers over extended and spread. While the knees come together, feet turn inward and toes turn up. The neck flexes pulling the head back and to the side and the mouth opens and tongue protrudes. In addition to the athetoid's movement, which can be described as irregular, unpredictable, and writhing, his efforts toward mobility are further complicated by an extremely poor sense of balance. The athetoid who has gained the ability to walk often resembles the lurching, balance adjusting movement of someone trying to walk across the deck of a ship being tossed about in a storm. Characteristically, an athetoid's attempts at such movements as the opening and closing of a hand are accompanied by overflow movements involving all the extremities. The involvement of the athetoid's mouth and throat make the activities of eating, drinking, and speaking extremely difficult. As with the spastic, respiration is also irregular and shallow, adding to the overall problem by providing insufficient oxygen to the brain and increasing the chance for respiratory infections.