My child won’t stop toe-walking, what can I do?

Toe-walking (or tip-toeing) is something all kids do at some point in their lives, however, some children on the spectrum may take toe-walking to the extreme. According to researchers, 0.9% of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are also diagnosed with toe-walking as compared to 0.5% of neurotypical peers (Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, 2019). My daughter began toe-walking almost immediately after she learned how to walk and although initially cute, I soon started to worry. Although toe-walking can seem harmless initially, spending too much time on one’s toes can result in damage to the tendons and ultimately may even require surgical intervention. I knew I had to do something to stop the toe-walking before it caused permanent damage.

According to researchers, 0.9% of patients Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are also diagnosed with toe-walking as compared to 0.5% of neurotypical peers (Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, 2019).

Initially, I tried simply reminding my daughter to place her heels on the ground — “feet down” was the commonly used phrase. However, this proved more difficult than I believed it would as she also struggled with a receptive-expressive language delay (also common among those with ASD). I knew I had to get clever when I discovered a gamechanger: Ikiki Squeaky Shoes (paid link).

These shoes changed everything. The genius in them is in the design. The shoes have a squeaker in the heel (that can be turned off), which I used to ‘reward’ my daughter for standing properly on her heels. Whenever I caught her tip-toeing, a simple reminder to “squeak your shoes” became a fun game to her. She absolutely loved walking on her heels in order to activate the squeaking mechanism. Her toe-walking stopped almost immediately; even when no longer wearing the shoes, there was a noticeable decline in toe-walking.

Her toe-walking stopped almost immediately; even when no longer wearing the shoes, there was a noticeable decline in toe-walking.

If I ever felt her toe-walking was coming back, I simply got her excited about putting on her ‘squeaky shoes’ and let her wear them for a while until she remembered to keep her heels down. Best part is they come in a range of child sizes and adorable animals/creatures — I am ready to buy a second pair as she is outgrowing her current set, well worth it!

If you have a toe-walker and you feel you have tried everything to no avail, why not give ikiki shoes a try?

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References

Leyden, J., Fung, L., & Frick, S. (2019). Autism and toe-walking: are they related? Trends and treatment patterns between 2005 and 2016. Journal of Children’s Orthopaedics, 13(4), 340–345. https://doi.org/10.1302/1863-2548.13.180160