Fine Motor/VM/VP

Fine motor skills

Involves the use of precise and coordinated movement of the fingers and hands

Visual perceptual skills

The skills that are needed to interpret and understand what is seen

Visual motor integration

The coordination of hand movements based upon the perception of visual information. It is the execution of hand movements guided by what the child is seeing.

Grasp

The voluntary act of picking up, holding, and manipulating objects with the hand

The sequence of grasp development is driven by _______ but is also influenced by the child’s environment and experiences

maturation

Grasp develops from being more ______ (held in the palm) to more precise (held in fingertips)

crude

Release

The ability to smoothly release and place an object precisely on/in a targeted area

Release requires a child to partially open their hand while carefully monitoring the ______

placement

T/F: Release is needed for placing objects in a container, stacking blocks, managing a cup and spoon/fork, and working puzzles.

T

Hand strength

Needed for students to push, pull, pinch, squeeze, twist, and sustain a prolonged grasp on tools

What are the 4 types of in-hand manipulation?

1. Translation

2. Shift

3. Simple rotation

4. Complex rotation

Palmar-Supinate Grasp

Shaft held with a fisted hand and arm moves as a unit

What age does palmar-supinate grasp develop?

1-1 ½ years old

Digital Pronate Grasp

Shaft held with fingers and forearm moves as a unit

When does static tripod grasp develop?

3 ½ - 4 years old

Static Tripod Grasp

Held with crude approximation of thumb, index, and middle finger with continual adjustments made by other hand.

• No fine localized movements of fingers, hand moves as a unit

What age does dynamic tripod grasp develop?

4 ½ - 6 years old

Dynamic tripod grasp

Held with precise opposition of distal fingers of thumb, index, and middle fingers.

• Fine, localized movements

• Held with thumb and index finger that point toward the tip

• Crayon rests on side of middle finger

• Last two fingers curl into the palm

Fine motor focuses on _____

Grasp

What is completed/done focuses on ____ _____

Visual motor

What areas for perceptual skills have an impact in?

• Education: reading, writing, and math

• ADLs: dressing and bathing

• IADLs: reading maps, emptying the dishwasher

• Leisure: participating in hobbies and crafts

• Play/Work: sequencing, organizing

Visual discrimination

the ability to identify similarities and difference between letters, numbers, objects, etc

If an individual doesn’t have visual discrimination skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• distinguishing between words or letters

• sorting, matching, organizing

Spatial relations

ability to perceive two or more object’s position in space relative to oneself and in relation to each other

If an individual doesn’t have spatial relation skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• spacing between words

• writing on lined paper

• understanding directions

• left/right confusion

• letter reversals

Visual closure

the ability to identify items although the item is not visually complete or part of the item is visually obstructed

If an individual doesn’t have visual closure skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• reading

• locating items in a busy drawer/container, etc.

Visual sequential memory

the ability to put items seen in consecutive order

If an individual doesn’t have visual sequential memory skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• recalling what was seen when copying from the board, typing a copied text- can lead to slow work and omitting letters

• spelling

• remembering math equations

• multi-step tasks

visual memory

The ability to remember and recall objects, shapes, symbols, movements from pictures, list of words or other information presented visually

If an individual doesn’t have visual memory skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• remembering faces, sight words, street signs/locations

Form constancy

The ability to recognize that an item is the same when in a different orientation, size, and/or color

If an individual doesn’t have form constancy skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• letters, numbers or symbols that are different sizes, colors, or rotated

• distinguishing between similar letters, shapes, and words

Figure ground

the ability to distinguish an item or form while perceiving the foreground from the background

If an individual doesn’t have figure ground skills, what might they have difficulties with?

• finding objects in a drawer

• locating a specific word or sentence on a page

• confusion and fatigue when looking at visually stimulating pages/environments

Dominate hand

used more consistently for finer manipulative skills. this hand may also be called the “worker hand.”

Non-dominate hand

develops skills in manipulating, stabilizing, and positioning objects. This hand may also be called “helper hand.”

How to determine child’s hand dominance?

observe the child completing common daily tasks (such as picking up a glass, opening the door, wiping face, throwing a ball, etc.) to determine if one hand is more skilled/precise/stronger than another

What age is hand dominance established?

by 5-6 years of age

T/F: Tool use is just a fine motor skill and does not require a cognitive action plan for proper and purposeful use of the tool

False

What bilateral hand skill can 3-4 year olds do

• Lace 3 holes

• String small beads by holding bead in one hand and holding string in opposite hand

What bilateral hand skill can 4-5 year olds do

• cut out shapes accurately by grasping scissors correctly and adjusting paper with opposite hand

• fold paper precisely in one-half

• holds writing utensil with preferred hand and stabilizes paper with opposite hand when coloring or drawing

What does normal visual motor development look like during mealtime in 4-5 year old kids?

• Holds cup with one hand

• Uses a napkin

• Holds fork with fingers

• Holds spoon with fingers

What does normal development look like during dressing in 3-4 year old kids?

• Puts on shoes and socks with minimal assistance- may be on incorrect foot

• Buttons large buttons independently

• Snaps independently

• Pulls down pants independently

• Unzips and zips non-separating zipper independently

• Zips down pants independently

What does normal development look like during dressing in 4-5 year old kids?

• buckles clothing independently

• socks and shoes on correct feet with minimal assistance

• Connects two-part separating jacket zipper and zip-ups

• unbuckles independently

Developmental progression of coloring starts with _____ strokes over a wide area

broad

Movements and strokes become _____ with maturation

smaller

Coloring helps children develop

• crayon grip

• use of helping hand

• attention

• strength and endurance

Coloring helps children progress through these stages:

• aim and scribble

• side to side horizontal strokes

• up and down vertical strokes

• small circular motions

• staying within the directions of the lines

• coloring within the illustration using the stroke that accommodates the shape of the image

What do pre-writing skills include?

tracing and forming proper strokes that are a prerequisite to letter formation

What are the benefits to tracing and pre-writing activities?

• increase grip strength

• promote an ideal grasp