Age |
Developmental Milestones |
Possible implications if milestones not achieved |
0-6 months |
- Reflexive grasp (at birth)
- Global ineffective reach for objects (3 months)
- Voluntary grasp (3 months)
- 2 handed palmar grasp (3 months)
- 1 handed palmar grasp (5 months)
- Controlled reach (6 months)
|
- Poor muscle development and control
- Delayed ability to play independently
- Delayed sensory development due to delayed interaction with toys and other sensory objects
|
6-12 months |
- Reaches, grasps, puts object in mouth
- Controlled release of objects
- Static Pincer grasp (thumb and one finger)
- Picks things up with pincer grasp (thumb and one finger)
- Transfers objects from one hand to another
- Drops and picks up toys
|
- Poor development of hand and finger strength
- Poor manipulation of objects resulting in delayed play skills
- Delayed sensory development due to lack of sensory play experiences
|
1-2 years |
- Builds tower of three small blocks
- Puts four rings on stick
- Places five pegs in pegboard
- Turns pages two or three of a book at a time
- Scribbles
- Turns knobs
- Paints with whole arm movement, shifts hands, makes strokes
- Self-feeds with minimal assistance
- Able to use signing to communicate
- Brings spoon to mouth
- Holds and drinks from cup independently
|
- Poor development of hand and finger strength
- Delayed independent play skills
- Delayed development of self care skills (such as eating)
- Delayed manipulation skills
|
2-3 years |
- Strings four large beads
- Turns single pages of a book
- Snips with scissors
- Holds crayon with thumb and fingers (not fist)
- Uses one hand consistently in most activities
- Imitates circular, vertical, and horizontal strokes
- Paints with some wrist action, makes dots, lines, circular strokes
- Rolls, pounds, squeezes, and pulls playdough
- Eats without assistance
|
- Delayed self-care skills (such as eating)
- Delayed pre-writing skill development
- Delayed manipulation of small objects such as toys, pencils and scissors
- Frustration when manipulating small toys and objects
|
3-4 years |
- Builds tower of nine small blocks
- Copies circle
- Imitates cross
- Manipulates clay material (rolls balls, makes snakes, cookies)
- Uses non-dominant hand to assist and stabilize the use of objects
- Snips paper using scissors
|
- Delayed pre-writing skill development
- Frustration and/or avoidance of pencil based tasks
- Poor pencil grasp and pencil control
- Poor self-care skills (such as eating)
- Delayed drawing skills
|
4-5 years |
- Cuts on line continuously
- Copies cross
- Copies square
- Writes name
- Writes numbers 1-5
- Copies letters
- Handedness is well established
- Dresses and undresses independently
|
- Difficulties holding and manipulating a pencil
- Difficulties learning to write name and other letters of the alphabet
- Dependence on caregivers for every day activities such as dressing
- Frustration and/or avoidance of pencil based tasks
|
5-6 years |
- Cuts out simple shapes
- Copies triangle
- Colors within lines
- Uses a 3 fingered grasp of pencil and uses fingers to generate movement
- Pastes and glues appropriately
- Can draw basic pictures
|
- Difficulties learning to form letters and numbers correctly
- Poor handwriting
- Difficulties demonstrating academic ability on paper
- Fatigue during pencil based tasks
- Frustration and/or avoidance of pencil based tasks
|
6-7 years |
- Forms most letters and numbers correctly
- Writes consistently on the lines
- Demonstrates controlled pencil movement
- Good endurance for writing
- Can build Lego, K’nex and other blocks independently
- Ties shoelaces independently
|
- Difficulties getting ideas down on paper
- Experiences fatigue during handwriting tasks
- Difficulty keeping up in class due to slow handwriting speed
- Poor legibility of handwriting
- May impact on self-esteem when comparing work to peers
- Possible frustration and/or behavior difficulties due to avoidance of pencil based tasks
|
7-8 years |
- Maintains legibility of handwriting for entirety of a story
|
- Difficulty completing handwriting tasks in a timely manner
- Experiencing fatigue during handwriting tasks
- Poor academic achievement due to difficulty getting ideas down on paper
- Difficulties due to avoidance of pencil based tasks
|