Toe Walking: Causes and Remediation

Toe walking and ADHD
While toe walking can happen for any number of reasons, it does seem to show up more often in children with neurodevelopmental conditions, including intellectual disability and autism. Emerging evidence suggests it also shows up frequently among children with ADHD.
Cochran Institute: https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD012363.pub2/fullShow more

A 2018 Study Trusted Source involving 312 children diagnosed with ADHD found that 20.8 percent of participants had idiopathic toe walking (ITW). As noted above, experts estimate the general prevalence of ITW at about 2 percent. So, these results suggest kids with ADHD may be 10 times more likely to toe walk than the general population.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28705637/

A 2021 Study Trusted Source involving 77 people with toe walking found that 9.1 percent Trusted Source of toe walkers had a confirmed diagnosis of ADHD. An additional 20.8 percent had “suspected” ADHD, or they showed symptoms but had yet to receive an official diagnosis.
PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34676528/

Sensory Processing and Toe Walking
For many children on the autism spectrum, the sensory system has an impact on why the child may be toe walking. Think about the sensory components of toe walking. A sensory seeker will get a lot of input and pressure from toe walking. A sensory avoider will be able to avoid input through their feet by toe walking.The proprioceptive, vestibular and tactile systems have an impact on toe walking. If a child has difficulty knowing where his body is in space (proprioception), or his sense of balance is off (vestibular), he may be more prone to toe walking. If a child is sensitive to tactile input, toe walking will relieve the sensation on his foot. Additionally, there is some evidence that the visual system impacts toe walking. The visual system is an important component to helping us navigate the environment safely.
Autism Helper: https://theautismhelper.com/sensory-processing-the-proprioceptive-system/