OT Evaluation

Drew's teacher requested permission to evaluate Drew's fine motor skills prior to his IEP meeting this fall. She had some concerns about his development in that area, and wanted to see if he was far enough behind to qualify for services.

At our meeting this week, I received the evaluation. The school used a standardized "Peabody Developmental Motor Scales - 2" test to evaluate Drew's skills. Drew scored in the 75th percentile for grasping skills, and in the 95th percentile for Visual-Motor Integration.

Drew was observed using an overhand/side approach to working with blocks. He could stack 10 blocks to form a tower and was able to copy simple three to four block patterns. He was also noted to grasp a marker with a mature tripod grasp (which shocks me!). He could unbutton three buttons in 75 seconds, and unbutton one button in twenty seconds. He was noted to be able to touch finger to thumbs in a smooth manner. In addition, he can trace a line, cut out a circle and square with accuracy, connect dots with accuracy and was able to imitate a horizontal line, vertical line, circle and a cross.

Basically, all of this is to say that he does not qualify for services for his fine motor skills. He was noted to have several strengths, including his "mature" grasp on a marker, ability to cut out simple shapes with accuracy, ability to button and unbutton and his imitations of drawing lines and simple shapes. The only weakness noted was in his printing skills of his name (it looks quite awful!). So the game plan is for him to work on his fine motor skills in classroom activities with his teachers, and for us to come up with some creative activities at home to help develop these skills.