Visual Motor Skills

When should I choose this area of focus for my Gabadoo?

Visual Motor Skills or Visual Motor Integration allows our eyes and hands to work together in a smooth, organised and efficient way. Sometimes it is referred to as eye-hand co-ordination. Visual motor skills are needed for coordinating the whole body with what the eyes perceive including fine and gross motor. These motor skills allow us to collect visual information and use it in a motor action.

If your child needs support in this area they may find:

They have letter reversals when writing.

Have poor line placement when writing or margin use.

Have difficulty recognising patterns, drawing or copying shapes.

Have trouble copying block designs or constructing Lego with instructions.

Find puzzles and jigsaws challenging.

Have difficulty keeping their place when reading and writing.

Difficulty with sports (however, if this is your primary concern, please refer to the 'gross motor skills' blog).

If your child or teenager is finding visual motor tasks challenging to complete or the need to work on this area has been identified in an OT report, doing a Gabadoo can really help!

It is vital to have your child's vision tested prior to completing a Gabadoo in order to rule out any vision problems. Please include the date you had their vision tested and the result in your Gabadoo.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

There is a separate area of focus for handwriting so if your concern is specifically around your child's handwriting, please refer to this blog post and select handwriting as your area of focus.

There is also a separate area of focus for dressing skills so if your child is having difficulty with dressing or undressing, select dressing skills as your area of focus.

There is also a separate area of focus for fine motor skills so if your child is having difficulty with a specific or a number of fine motor skills, read this blog and if you would like support around this, select fine motor skills as your area of focus.

There is also a separate area of focus for gross motor skills so if your child is having difficulty with a specific or a number of gross motor skills, read this blog and if you would like support around this, select gross motor skills as your area of focus.

What information do I need to include in my Gabadoo?

As our Gabadoo Team have never met your family before and know nothing about your child, they can only provide strategies based on the information you provide so be very detailed!

After you have filled in the relevant information in your Gabadoo, go through this checklist to make sure you have included the following:

Family & Home Life:

Description of your family & the structure of your family including siblings, pets or any extended family who are living in your home.

The space you have available & whether or not you have access to a garden.

Your daily routine including school hours, drop offs, child-care and free time in the evening and at the weekends so our team provide activities that are achievable for your routine.

Strengths and Interests:

What does your child like to do?

What games, toys, T.V. programs, characters do they like?

Do they prefer to be outdoors or indoors?

Do they like playing with other children?

What motivates them to do less preferred activities?

Do they respond to praise from adults?

Additional Information:

What class is your child in at school?

What type of schooling do they receive? i.e. homeschooling, mainstream N.S., gaelscoil, preschool, ASD class, Special School.

Have you seen any professionals in the past in relation to vision or motor skills? Or has your child ever had a medical review because of their vision or motor skills? If so, what was the outcome? Give details if they wear glasses or previously wore glasses.

What have you tried before to work on your child's visual motor skills? Include toys used at home, previous groups, intervention, support at school, parent courses you have completed and/or specific toys/equipment you have bought.

Make sure to include:

How this is impacting on your child on a daily basis?

What level is your child at with this skill? e.g. they can put a 3 piece puzzle, can copy three shapes ( I, - , O).

What would you like to gain from this Gabadoo? For example: I would like strategies to develop my child's ability to complete jigsaws or to copy from the blackboard in school.

List your observations in relation to this skill include details like how your child reacts to doing visual motor tasks, what visual motor activities they enjoy doing, which ones do they avoid.

The most important thing is how this impacts on your child day-to-day at home and at school.

Next include videos and images of your child completing these visual motor tasks & make sure to include:

A video clip that shows their whole body so we can review how their posture might impact on their visual motor skills.
A video clip that is closer of them completing a visual motor tasks but still includes their shoulders, mouth and hands.
Try to include a few clips of them completing different visual motor tasks so we can get an even better idea of how to support them e.g. building, drawing, cutting etc.

Remember: The more information you give our team, the more individualised and relevant your plan will be.

What support will I receive for my child?

Your information will be reviewed by one of our Gabadoo Experts who is experienced in the area of 'visual motor skills'. They will detail individualised strategies, activities, next steps and helpful organisations and products that you can use at home to develop your child's skills.