Some children have difficulties with these skills, which impacts their ability to sequence tasks, follow directions, and complete a task. They may be unable to doing more than one thing at a time or do tasks carelessly or incomplete. These deficits can have lasting effects on a child’s social and academic performance.

Difficulties with balance and coordination may result in a child having difficulty walking, throwing a ball, or even picking up a crayon. Abrupt movements, such as stopping on command, may also be hard for a child to do smoothly. Some skills needed for appropriate balance and coordination include hand-eye-coordination, body awareness, and postural control.

Fine motor skills involve the use of “smaller” muscles, such as with tasks like opening a latch, holding a pencil, zipping up a jacket, and using utensils independently. If deficits are seen in this area, children may be unable to do these tasks easily and without assistance.

Any tasks that involve the child participating in tasks such as dressing, feeding, toileting, and brushing teeth, are considered self-care skills. When a child has difficulty doing these tasks independently, assistance and strategies from an occupational therapist may be beneficial.

Sensory processing in a child’s ability to take in a variety of senses (such as seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and tasting) and respond appropriately. Children who have difficulties with this may show decreased tolerance to change, new foods, or new environments. As a result, you may see behaviors from the child, including decreased attention, impulsive behaviors, or tantrums.

Social skills are described as the child’s ability to interact and play well with other children. This includes skills such as taking turns, asking questions, sharing interests/toys, and responding appropriately in a social situation. It is important for a child to have these skills as they help when the child makes friends and resolves conflicts.

Difficulties with visual processing does not necessarily mean that the child has vision/sight issues. Instead, it means that some children may have difficulty discriminating and responding to things in the environment, such as kicking a ball and finding hidden objects. These deficits are seen as a child makes errors including (but not limited to) reversing numbers and letters when reading or writing, putting objects in order, and identifying objects in a busy background.