Physical Development

Prone

Lying face down

Supine

Lying on the back

Ventral Suspension

Held in the air face down

Head lag

The head falls back when pulled up to sit

Reflex

Involuntary response to stimulus

Neonate

A newborn baby

Stimulus

Something that arouses a reaction

Posture

Position of parts of the body

Symmetrical

Balanced movements of bpth sides of the body

Asymmetrical

Jerky uncoordinated movements

Primitive Reflexes

A reminder of how the human race has evolved over millions of years.

Types of reflexes

• Rooting reflexes

• Sucking reflex

• Placing reflex

• Walking reflex

• Moro ( startle) reflex

• Grasping

Primitive reflexes disappearing

• Usually disappear by about three months of age.

• Moro/ startle reflex is the last to go, by 5 months

• These primitive reflexes must go so they can be replaced by voluntary control- actions, which a child chooses and wants to do.

• The Palmer grasp reflex fades so that by 6 months old the child can grasp objects with the whole hand.

• Children who retain their primitive reflexes beyond 6 months may have problems with the development of their Central nervous system.

Gross motor Skills

• Learning to support the head

• Rolling Over

• Climbing

• Sitting

• Playing football

• Crawling

• Skipping

• Riding a Bicycle and tricycle

• Pulling to stand

• Standing on one leg

• Walking

• Hopping

• Swimming

Fine Motor Skills

Involve the use of the hands in coordination with the eyes.

Allows the child to perform very delicate procedures with their fingers.

The eyes influencing the precise movement of the fingers.

• Playing with the fingers

• Attempting to grasp objects

• Holding and exploring objects

• More delicate palmer grasp using the thumb

• Primitive pincer grasp

• Exploring with the index finger