Smooth eye movement is vital to our ability to scan and read from one direction to another e.g. left to right. Thus, a person who has weak eye movement may have problems with reading, copying information from the blackboard etc.

The proprioceptive system provides us with information of our joint positions at all times. A person with poor proprioception may hold a pencil tensely to gain more feedback to better control his/her handwriting. Other characteristics include breaking objects that require fine finger manipulation, frequent falls and bumps etc.

The vestibular system located in our inner ear receives information about movement and body position in space. It helps to provide joint stability, postural control and balance, spatial awareness, a stable visual and attentional system. A person or a child may show signs such as excessive walking or running in circles, jumping from high places, difficulty walking on steps or over thresholds, or tendency to drag toes when stepping forward when the vestibular system is not functioning well.

A person with tactile processing dysfunction may also show fidgety behaviours as they are constantly moving to gain more tactile information for their bodies. Someone with tactile processing difficulty often dislike hair washing, cutting and bathing.

Fundamental Sensory-Motor Skills:

When we look at words on a page, our eyes receive information about the dark lines and curves that make up numbers and letters and the white space that gives each number and letter their distinctive look. Visual processing difficulties arise when the information from the eye to the brain is somehow incomplete or distorted.

This difficulty often manifests as uneven spacing between letters and words, or number and letter reversals where “2” becomes “5” and “b” becomes “d”.

What is it?

When we listen, the ear receives a sound signal but it is the brain that processes these signals. This part of the brain is what we call the “Auditory System”. The auditory system allows us to attend to, discriminate, and understand verbal information.

How is it used?

Our Auditory System is responsible for a number of foundational skills like the ability to:

• discriminate sounds - when a child hears “dog”, he can tell it is made up of the sounds, “d”, “o” and “g”, even if he is not able to explain this.
• recognise different intonation patterns to allow us to learn the sounds and meaning of a language – which affects comprehension and ability to follow instructions;
• interpret the mood of a person from the intonation of their voice - Is mummy asking a question, making a statement or just plain angry?;
• remember sounds from the words we have heard and comprehended – which is vital for spelling, learning the time-table, and answering a Science question like what causes the sun to set everyday!

What are the symptoms arising from weak Auditory Skills?

There are several skills involved in our auditory nervous system. Confidence in communication, asking questions during a class and even making friends in a social context all require our Auditory Skills to be working strongly. And when the Auditory System is weak, one may show the following signs of auditory processing difficulty:

In order to learn, a person must be attentive to be able to absorb information. Attention supports 2 key channels where information can be received by the body, i.e. the auditory and visual channels

When these functions are weak, a person may appear inattentive or hyperactive. A person with attention difficulty may show the following signs:

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) has been found to contribute to learning difficulties faced by 5%- 15% percent of the population. DCD is characterized by “clumsiness” in a child with average to above average intelligence. These children often are late to start sitting, crawling, or walking. They often do not do well in sport, have untidy handwriting and may have associated language or attention difficulties.