Symptoms and Signs of Motor Skills Disorder

Motor Skills Disorder Symptoms

Children with this disorder have variable symptoms, depending on the age of diagnosis (as with most childhood disorders).

• Young infants may present with non-specific findings, such as hypotonia (floppy baby) or hypertonia (rigid baby).
• Older infants may be delayed in their ability to sit, stand or walk.
• Toddlers may have difficulty feeding themselves.
• Older children may have a hard time learning to hold a pencil, and tend to knock over drinking glasses more often than expected.

As children with this disorder age, they often avoid physical activities, especially those requiring complex motor behaviors such as:

• dancing,
• gymnastics,
• swimming,
• catching or throwing a ball,
• writing, or
• drawing.

This is due to the individual's propensity to fall or trip more often than others and their inability to complete motor tasks adequately. These individuals may have more bruises or superficial skin injuries due to being "clumsy". They may often feel unable to judge spatial distances and have difficulty with shutting off faucets, turning off devices, and tend to have trouble putting together puzzles or toys.

Motor Skills Disorder Causes

There is no known exact cause of this disorder; however, it is often associated with physiological or developmental abnormalities such as:

• prematurity,
• developmental disabilities (cognitive deficits),
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and
• mathematics or reading learning disorders.

It should be differentiated from other motor disorders, such as:

• cerebral palsy,
• muscular dystrophy, and
• inherited metabolic disorders.