Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Anne Haskins

Keywords

Child Development; Child, Preschool; Motor Skills

Abstract

Fine motor skills are important in childhood development (Beilei, Lui, Qu & vonHofsten, 2002; Rosenblum, Weiss & Parush, 2003 as cited in Jackman & Stagnitti, 2007). These skills become critical when a child reaches school age when the child is expected to perform fine motor tasks such as cutting, coloring, and writing as part of his or her daily routine. Research has shown that there is a high rate of fine motor difficulties in school-age children in the United States (Hammerschmidt & Sudsawad, 2004 as cited in Jackman & Stagnitti, 2007). Caregivers of preschool age children often seek the assistance of an occupational therapist to educate them in how they can facilitate a child's ability to perform fine motor tasks successfully.

This scholarly project culminated in a guide, which is intended to provide occupational therapy practitioners, teachers, and parents with the information necessary to educate caregivers of the preschool age population with knowledge of fine and visual-motor development and strategies to use to promote skill development specific to the child's age. This project is guided by the Ecology of Human Performance theory, supporting the concept that the person and context in which occupation is performed come together to give meaning and purpose to tasks (Kramer et al., 2003).

The methods used in this project included an extensive review of literature from research journals, text books, and educational web resources. The finished product resulted in a guide that is intended to be used by occupational therapists to benefit parents and teachers in understanding the value of promoting fine and visual-motor development in the preschool age population. Above all, this guide was created for the student to achieve success in his or her occupational role as a student.

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