Motor Assessment

Motor skills are generally evaluated during an assessment in the schools by an occupational and/or physical therapist. Motor performance is also considered an important part of a neuropsychological evaluation. A neuropsychological evaluation assesses the relationship between brain activity and behavior (Teeter & Semrud-Clikeman, 1997). There are occasions when a school psychologist may need to provide additional measures of motor skills to provide support for a child or adolescent in the area of handwriting and copying.

Motor skills can be divided into several areas. The most obvious division is between fine and gross motor skills. Gross motor skills are the bigger movements (e.g., running and jumping) that use the large muscles in the arms, legs, torso, and feet; whereas fine motor skills are small movements (e.g., grabbing ...