Patterns of Perceptual-Motor Dysfunction in Children: A Factor Analytic Study

Abstract

Analysis of test scores made by 100 children with and 50 without suspected perceptual deficits lead to hypothesizing five syndromes characteristic of dysfunction: (a) developmental apraxia, distinguished by deficits in motor planning, tactile perception and finger identification; (b) tactile, kinesthetic and visual perceptual dysfunction in form and position in space; (c) tactile defensiveness, demonstrated by hyperactive-distractible behavior, faulty tactile perception and defensive responses to tactile stimuli; (d) deficit of integration of the two sides of the body, identified by difficulty in right-left discrimination, avoidance in crossing the mid-line, and incoordinate bilateral hand movements; (e) deficit of visual figure-ground discrimination.

Emerging Adulthood and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder

“…The following terms used over the years to describe an individual with motor difficulties have been terms such as "minimal cerebral palsy"; "minimal cerebral dysfunction" (Bax & MacKeith ,1963) although this was used to describe children with wider deficits than just motor difficulties ;"perceptual-motor dysfunction" (Ayres, 1965), and then Brenner and colleagues (1967) in the BMJ described" vi suomotor disability in school children" . The descriptors have tried to highlight the potential underlying deficits such as perceptual-motor difficulties (Domrath, 1968), suggesting problems in perceptual-motor integration.…”

“…However the more descriptive term "motor impaired" was used by Whiting, Clarke and Morris (1969). Ayres (1965) referred to clumsiness as developmental dyspraxia. Illingworth, (1968), Dare and Gordon (1970) at around the same time was using the term the 'clumsy child'.…”

Task‐specific training: evidence for and translation to clinical practice

“…It does not, however, recognize that movement is organized according to the object used or the environment. The sensorimotor approach, originating from the research of Ayres (1965) and further developed by others [e.g. Case-Smith (2005)] is based on theories of a child's healthy development through a series of motor skill 'milestones'.…”

Sensory Processing Disorder in a Primate Model: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study of Prenatal Alcohol and Prenatal Stress Effects

“…Rhesus monkeys were used because of the large amount of available data on their behavior and development in laboratory settings (Harlow & Harlow, 1969;Suomi, 1997) A. Jean Ayres (1964), an occupational therapist and educational psychologist, coined the term "tactile defensiveness" to characterize the behavioral correlates of a pattern described as "feelings of discomfort and a desire to escape the situation when certain types of tactile stimuli are experienced" (1964, p. 8). Ayres showed that tactile defensiveness or overresponsiveness to tactile stimuli was consistently related to hyperactive and distractible behavior in children (Ayres, 1965(Ayres, , 1966(Ayres, , 1969(Ayres, , 1972. Overresponsiveness to tactile stimuli is easily recognized in children (McIntosh, Miller, Shyu, & Dunn, 1999) and there has been some success in treating it with sensory-based interventions (Ayres & Tickle, 1980;Mailloux, 2001;Miller, Wilbarger, Stackhouse, & Trunnell, 2002;.…”