Moving & Sensing (Motor & Sensory) Tests
Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, Sixth Edition (Beery VMI-6)
The Beery VMI-6 is an assessment used to help identify difficulties with integration of visual and motor abilities (eye-hand coordination) and is designed to assess visual-motor integration difficulties in individuals aged 2 through 18 years. It is comprised of drawings of geometric forms arranged in order of increasing difficulty and requires individuals to copy, find, and trace them. It provides normative information to allow age-based comparisons for individuals aged 2 years to 19 years and older. Raw scores can be converted into Standard and Scaled scores with appropriate percentiles. Occupational therapists use this to determine if an individual has difficulty coordinating their visual and motor skills.
-Keith E. Beery, PhD, Norman A. Buktenica, Natasha A. Beery
Grooved Pegboard Test (GPT)
The GPT is an individually administered measure of eye-hand coordination and motor speed that requires only five minutes on average to administer. Test use ranges in age from 5 to 70 years. Scores are computed in seconds required for the patient to place all the pegs and is recorded separately for each hand. The raw time scores are then converted into T scores, Standard scores, and percentile ranks.
-Ronald Trites, PhD
Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Fourth Edition
(MVPT-4)
This assessment tool measures the visual perception abilities in an individual without requiring any motor movement. It can be administered to individuals aged 4 to 80 years of age and older. Information is provided on an individual’s visual discrimination, spatial perception, visual memory, and visual closure of partial images. The MVPT-3 is designed to be utilized by many professionals as only a general overview of visual perception and not as a tool in identifying the specific cause of possible deficits. The MVPT-3 takes roughly 25 minutes to administer and score and a single raw score is converted to a standard score, percentile, and age-equivalent. There is also the option to compare an individual’s score to their same age peers or to an alternate reference group.
-Ronald P. Colarusso, EdD, Donald D. Hammill, EdD
Sensory Profile
The Sensory Profile is a caregiver questionnaire concerned with sensory processing abilities and the effects of these abilities on daily functioning of children ages 5 to 10 years. The Sensory Profile can be used with children 3 to 4 years as well although precautions should be taken in the interpretation of scores. The Sensory Profile is available in a Full 125-item form and a Short 38-item form. Completion time for the Full and Short questionnaire is 30 and 10 minutes respectively. All the items on the Full form are categorized into three broad sections: Sensory Processing (a complex set of actions that enable the brain to understand what is going on both inside your own body and in the world around you), Modulation (a neurological function and is the organization of sensory information for on-going use), and Behavioral and Emotional Responses. Based on the results of these three categories joint interaction there are four outcomes which manifest: poor registration, sensitivity to stimuli, sensation seeking, and sensation avoiding.
-Winnie Dunn, PhD, OTR, FAOTA