Sensory Motor

Children are very clever. When something is hard, many kids can think it out and use cognitive skills to overcome a sensory-motor challenge. This is a great compensation tool when necessary, but we want children to have automatic motor skills, so they can focus on listening, learning, and interacting, rather than thinking about the underlying movement of their bodies.

"I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" yells an exuberant 8 year-old boy as he rides away from me on his bike. This young boy has a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and dyspraxia and was so frightened to just sit on his bike with training wheels 4 months ago that he held on to me for dear life.

Since October is National Sensory Awareness Month AND Physical Therapy Awareness Month, it is a great time to introduce the very important connection between sensory and motor and how physical therapy can play an integral role in supporting sensory motor development. Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants help individuals maintain, improve and restore mobility.

Don't turn away from this article just because of the word "dyspraxia." First, what is dyspraxia? Geoff Platt, author of Beating Dyspraxia with a Hop, Skip and a Jump: A Simple Exercise Program for Home and School lists some of the primary problems of dyspraxia to include: Some of the secondary problems include: lack of confidence and self-esteem; avoidance and frustration; and unhappiness and loneliness.