Visual Perceptual Skills

Visual Perception is the brain's ability to interpret what the eyes see. Difficulty in this area can manifest in many different ways, including reading, writing, and judgment in regards to safety. This can also affect the ability to perform self care skills. A child with poor visual-perceptual skills may become frustrated and have difficulty attending to these tasks.

Visual-Motor Coordination/Dexterity

Visual-motor skills are related to a child's ability to cut, color, trace, and perform other eye-hand coordination activities needed to successfully complete a task. By the time a child enters kindergarten, he/she should be able to:

Hand Preference: A child should have established hand-preference by age 6. Prehension patterns relate to how a child holds a writing utensil. By the age of 3 to 4, the ability to hold a writing utensil in a tripod grasp (thumb, forefinger and middle finger) should be emerging. The ability to use this grasp in writing tasks should be developing by the age of 5.

Manipulation Skills: By age 4 to 6 a child should be able to grasp several objects in one hand and distribute them without dropping the other objects. These in-hand manipulation skills are important for upcoming school related activities. The ability to perform other types of grasps, such as the cylinder grasp and the pincer grasp are also important. By kindergarten, a child should be attempting to tie his shoes and manipulate all the fasteners on his clothing.

Pregraphics/Graphics: By school age emerging skills include copying a variety of lines and shapes as well as simple representational drawings. He should be able to draw a person with 5 or more parts, and color within the lines fairly accurately.

Cutting: As a child reaches school age, he/she should be able to snip at the edges of paper and cut within 1/2 inch on a straight line to cutting on a curved line. Each child may need different levels of assistance while trying to cut. A child with special needs may need the hand-over-hand assistance of an Occupational Therapist.