COMMONLY USED TERMS BY
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS
BILATERAL COORDINATION: is the skilled and coordinated use of two
hands/arms/sides of the body at the same time; right and left arms and hands
working together or one hand stabilizing while the other hand is working.
Crossing the midline refers to the ability to cross your arms or legs over the
midline of the body; reaching with the right hand or right leg over the midline to
the left side of the body. (twisting the body toward one side.)
DEEP PRESSURE: is the type of surface pressure that is exerted in most types of
firm touching, holding, or swaddling. It is firm but gentle, slow and deliberate that
reaches through the layers of the skin so to speak. In contrast, light touch pressure
is a more superficial stimulation of the skin, such as tickling, very light touch, or
moving hairs on the skin. Very light touch alerts the nervous system, but deep
pressure is relaxing and calming.
Examples of this type of input for sensory kids would be gently "squashing" them
with a pillow over their legs, torso, arms, etc. You can sandwich them between
pillows and apply pressure; a bean bag chair that isn't super full and make a "taco"
so that his whole body is surrounded by the beanbag and then we squoooooosh
firmly, slowly for a few seconds and release.
DIRECTIONALITY: the visual-spatial skill of being aware of right/left,
forward/back, up/down, diagonals, and the ability to move oneself in those
directions
DYSPRAXIA: difficulty in conceiving of, planning, and carrying out a novel
motor action or series of motor actions. Motor planning is a component of praxis.
FINE MOTOR: movement of the small muscles in the fingers, toes, eyes and
tongue
GRADATION OF MOVEMENT: ability to flex and extend muscles according to
how much pressure is necessary to exert; a function of proprioception.
GRAPHOMOTOR: pertaining to the muscular movements in writing.
HAND PREFERENCE/DOMINANCE: right-or left-handedness, which becomes
established as lateralization of the cerebral hemispheres develops; usually
established by 4 or 5 years old; when not established can impact a child’s ability to
develop directionality and perform coordinated movements.
HYPER-RESPONSIVENESS/HYPERSENSITIVITY/SENSORY
DEFENSIVENESS: observable behavior involving a quick or intense response to
sensory stimuli that others usually perceive as benign; an exaggerated response or
withdrawal from stimuli
HYPO-RESPONSIVENESS/HYPOSENSITIVITY: behavior involving a slow
response to sensory stimuli; requiring high intensity or increased duration of the
stimuli to invoke an observed behavioral response; tendency to be sensory-seeking
and/or difficult to engage
IN-HAND MANIPULATION: involves manipulating an object within one hand.
The fingers and thumb are used to best position the object for the activity. For
example, picking up a pen and moving it into position with your fingers for
writing, or moving a coin from your palm to fingertips to put into a slot of a
piggybank. In-hand manipulation is one of the most complex fine motor skills.
Children who have difficulty with in-hand manipulation may be slow or unable to
complete some everyday activities.
KINESTHETIC AWARENESS: awareness of joint position and body movement
in space, such as knowing where to place one’s feet when climbing stairs, where to
place one’s fingers on a pencil, etc. without visual cues.
OCULOMOTOR SKILLS: movements of muscles in the eyes, including
binocularity, fixation, focusing and tracking
Binocularity or binocular coordination: how well the eyes work together as a team
(skill and endurance)
Convergence/divergence: the basic oculomotor skill of accommodating one’s
vision smoothly between near and distant objects (such as the blackboard and desk
when copying)
PERSEVERATE: to continue an activity or behavior when no longer appropriate
PROPRIOCEPTION: is considered the sixth sense; developed by the nervous
system as a means to keep track of and control the different parts of the body.
Rather than sensing external reality, proprioception is the sense of the orientation
of one's limbs in space. It is the sense that indicates whether the body is moving
with required effort, as well as where the various parts of the body are located in
relation to each other.
Proprioception is what police officers test when they pull someone over and
suspect drunkenness. Without proprioception, we'd need to consciously watch our
feet to make sure that we stay upright while walking.
SELF-REGULATION: the ability to control one’s activity level and state of
arousal; self-organization
SENSORIMOTOR: pertaining to the brain-behavior process of taking in sensory
messages and reacting with a physical response
TRIPOD GRASP: the grasp of a writing tool using three fingers (thumb, index,
middle)
VESTIBULAR SENSE: the balance and movement sense that responds to changes
in head position, body movement and the pull of gravity; coordinates movments of
the eyes, head and body; affects balance, muscle tone, visual-spatial perception,
auditory language and emotional security. Receptors are in the inner ear.
VISUAL ACUITY: The degree to which the eye can distinguish fine detail at
varying distances, also termed the clarity of vision.
VISUAL MEMORY: Memory that holds visual information.
VISUAL MOTOR INTEGRATION: refers to the ability to coordinate the motor
movement with visual stimulus, it involves both a perceptual input and motor
output. Fine motor integration is the ability to skillfully move the hand under
guidance of the eyes.
VISUAL PERCEPTION: ability to perceive and interpret what the eyes see; may
include position in space, figure-ground, visual-closure, form-constancy
VISUAL-SPATIAL DEFICIT: A reading disorder marked by difficulty linking
letters together to form whole words.