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I am a long time lurker and have commented a few times in the past. I lost my login info so just created a new account to answer this one. I tried posting but it seems to have been eaten- so I'll try again! My son is 11 now but he did this up until almost age 6. His pediatrician was not too concerned but I brought him to physical therapy. The physical therapist said he needed to build core strength so we had him do planks, crab walks, and pump his legs on swings every day. I don't remember the length we were supposed to do it each day but it worked and he has not toe walked for years. I would definitely see what your doctor says but also don't panic. He might just need some PT.

Physical Therapy should help though I do know a child in my son's class who wore two AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) to correct his toe walking issues but believe it was a more extreme case. I would definitely address it sooner rather than later but sounds like you are on it.

We raised this as a concern starting at age 2 and were told over and over, she will grow out of it. At age 6, I felt it had gone on too long and insisted on a referral. We saw a pediatric orthopedic who said surgery was an option to correct, but all we wanted was to be referred to PT.

We have been in PT for over a year now, she started with very limited range of motion in her ankles and tightness all the way up the legs. She gained some range of motion/strength through stretches and exercises, but the most progress we saw in range of motion was getting AFOs. She only wore at night with some straps to help get a longer stretch in. While she now has full range of motion and no pain when walking flat footed, the toe walking is still dominant.

We had raised this issue with our younger son when he was around 2, also not autistic or any other diagnosis ... he was also in speech therapy at that young age and in a group that had kids working on PT also, so they worked on getting him to stop... At home any time we saw him walking like that we asked him to stop.... You may need to do some PT to correct it as the muscles are likely shortened and it feels more comfortable now.... but I'm sure PT will help him out! They'll give you some good strategies to work on and you'll have to make sure you keep it up at home.

Does he play sports? I bet that could help, or ice skate? Then his foot will have to be in the correct position... I would wait to do surgery until you give PT a good few months