Double jointed Tegan

By Claire Elliot

LITTLE Tegan Davidson is double-jointed to such an extreme the daily two-minute walk to school is a major challenge.

The six-year-old’s joints are so bendy that even pressing a button and stepping down stairs is a struggle.

She has a condition called hypotonia, which has left her with low muscle tone and hyper-mobility in nearly all her joints.

Tegan has so little control over her movement that she can’t even join in skipping and climbing games with her friends.

Instead, the primary two pupil from New Deer, Aberdeenshire, spends a lot of her time in front of the TV watching educational programmes.

Her mother Lin, 42, said: “For her to walk 100 yards would be like another kid walking 400 yards.

“Everything is a lot more of an effort for her.

“For example, when she pushes a button her [finger] joints bend, they don't lock. It’s like being double-jointed to a degree that is not helpful.

“Even when you’re walking along holding her hand you can feel it would move.

“You have to hold her by the wrist because if she was to fall it would dislocate more easily.”

 Opening doors, getting in and out of the car and even cutting up her food are all major hurdles for the youngster.

And while her freinds are happy to run around and play rambunctiously, she is very careful in her movement.

Mrs Davidson and her husband Ian, 47, a building standards officer, initially thought their daughter was “just a very cautious child”.
 

But when Tegan started playgroup it became apparent it was something more sinister.

Mrs Davidson, a carer, said: “I was pretty worried at first not knowing what she was going to be able to do.

“Academically she is bright as a button. But physically she finds writing difficult because her hands get tired.

“When she first started walking she moved very much from her hips because she didn’t have the control in her knees.

“It took her a long time to walk unaided.”

Even now the walk to school, which is just two minutes from her home, can be enough to tire her out. The youngtser would love to be able to ride a bike but even on the slightest of slopes she does not have the strength to peddle.

Despite her disability, however, Tegan has won awards at school in recognition of her efforts in gym class.

And, after taking up keyboard lessons in an attempt to strengthen the muscles in her finger joints, she took to the stage in a local talent contest, playing Mary Had A Little Lamb.

Mrs Davidson said her daughter, who does regular exercises to try and "tone her up", is gradually developing her own coping strategies.

But she said: “A big bugbear with her is that she can’t skip.

“She gets upset sometimes because she would like to be able to keep up with her peer group.

“At sports days you are so willing her not to come last.
 

“I get quite frustrated for her. Your instinct is to step forward and help her but you’ve got to step back and let her do it for herself.

“It affects the simple everyday things that everyone takes so much for granted.

“She can’t just jump in and out of the car.

"She can do the buttons on her shirt but she can’t do the buttons on her Jeans because it requires too much strength.

“Opening doors, walking, cutting up her food, they all take their toll.

“But we tend to look on the bright side and concentrate on the things that she can do because we do worry about her self esteem.”

Her physical instability has also left her with gravitational insecurity, which means she does not like her feet being off the ground.

As a result she has an acute fear of slides and roundabouts.

“To her going down a slide is like us doing a parachute jump,” said Mrs Davidson.

“She won’t jump off even a small step of four inches. She’ll step off it carefully.”

Hypotonia can be a result of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy or Down’s syndrome.

In some cases, however, it can be a condition on its own, known as benign congenital hypotonia.

Mrs Davidson said: “We’ve not got to the route cause of it yet. We’ll know more as she gets older.

“If she progresses more it’s likely to just be a genetic thing but if she halts and goes backwards it could be more neurological.”