Motor development
- Posted on: Mar 13 2018
Motor development is the step by step progression in mobility of a human being. It is not the same for everybody but generally, there is a timeline in which one is expected to exhibit a progression. In some cases, if the expected motor development is not attained at a given timeline, it may be considered as delayed development, or it may be due to pathology.
To illustrate, when I was pregnant with my son, I saw his motor development inside my womb when I have my ultrasound. In the beginning, I saw him yawn, open and close his hands. Then, he was able to kick and turn his head. I even saw him turn his entire body to hide his gender! When he was born, he can grasp mine and my husband’s fingers. He can kick and bring his hands to the air when he cries, and he tries to suck my finger when I bring it closer to his mouth. As early as few weeks, he already has head control and can follow where the sound is coming from. At four months, he was able to turn to his side. At eight months he can cruise and at nine months, he can walk across his pack and play. But, it’s only until he was fourteen months when he started to walk without holding on to anything. While this is the case for my son, with my niece, she cruised at eight months and walked at twelve months. She easily climbed at her playpen and crib at age 1! On the contrary, my nephew didn’t walk alone until he was almost two years old. With my nephew, the head control, turning, and crawling happened at the expected timeline, but the walking was delayed. Three children, three different motor development timelines, same skills attained.
Rhia Vista, PTA
Posted in: Evidence Based Medicine