Motor Planning 2018-05-04T19:51:39+00:00

Motor Planning

Motor Planning Profile

The Motor Planning Profile provides a standard method for measuring and reporting motor processing abilities. It is an integral part of proper neurodevelopment. The profile indicates age appropriate neurodevelopment responses to the basic motor planning and processing systems and how those responses relate to functional cognitive expression.

The purpose of the profile is to provide a tool for linking Brain Performance Indicators (BPI) of strengths and barriers with motor planning processing patterns. The goal of this profile is to provide insight into motor planning and processing by grouping information into nine meaningful factors.

  1. Sensory Seeking
  2. Emotionally Reactive
  3. Low Endurance/Tone
  4. Oral Sensory Sensitivity
  5. Inattention/Distractibility
  6. Poor Registration
  7. Sensory Sensitivity
  8. Sedentary
  9. Fine Motor/Perceptual

During the evaluation the evaluator will have the child perform specific tasks which demonstrate which stage of neurological development the child has completed and which stages have not been completed or met.

Integration Measures

  1. Sensory Motor Functions
  2. Sensory Motor Input Modulation Responses
  3. Behavioral/Social Interaction
  4. Motor Planning for speech, fine motor, gross motor

These measures give a more detailed picture of processing strengths and weaknesses, and the brain’s natural ability to receive, process, learn, and integrate information from different perspectives. Together, each perspective yields a more precise description of where the child is in the neurodevelopmental continuum. Each individual program is based on the results of these measures. Further, each program is designed to address achievement shortcomings and the neurological causes for this under performance.

Definitions of Terms

Sensory Processing: identifies responses to the basic sensory processing systems and their functional cognitive expression.

Vestibular Processing: responses to balance and movement, i.e.: does individual become anxious or distressed when feet leave the ground, has trouble walking on uneven surfaces, car sickness, headaches.

Oral Motor Processing: responses to movement and planning of mouth muscles, i.e.:difficulty with articulation, forming words, eating, chewing, swallowing. Eating and oral aversions can be aversions to either hard and crunchy or soft and mushy textures.

Modulation: regulation of neural messages through facilitation or inhibition of various types of responses. 

Sensory Processing Related to Endurance/Tone: a child’s ability to sustain performance, i.e.: tires easily, poor endurance, breath control.

Modulation Related to Body Position and Movement: a child’s ability to move effectively, i.e.: takes movement or climbing risks, play that might compromise personal safety, or refuses to climb due to fear of place in space.

Modulation of Movement Affecting Activity Level: a child’s demonstration of activeness, i.e.: spends most of the day in sedentary play vs. active play.

Behavioral and Emotional Responses: a child’s behavioral outcomes of sensory processing.