3 Fine Motor Skills – Fingers
Alicia is not able to use a fork, spoon or knife.  She always eats with her hands.  When she places food to her mouth she rarely puts the food in her mouth with her fingers and sometimes misses her mouth – She then uses her palm to push the food into her mouth.
3.1 Alicia continues to eat with her hands although eating with a fork has continued to improve it is usually very messy and involves her giving up after a few mouth fulls. It is obvious that this method of eating for Alicia is troublesome and tiring and she finds it difficult.
3.2 We have tried many times to teach her to use a fork but she only taps the cutlery on the plate and enjoys this and sees it as a game. She refuses to allow us to feed her and wants to feed herself independently.
3.3 There has been some improvement.
3.4 Alicia finds it hard to put blocks into holes – she finds it difficult, she can take an instruction to try and sometimes succeeds but only around 50% of the time is she successful without assistance.
3.5 I have not checked recently to see if she can now do this.
3.6 I have tried giving her coins to put into a slot and she also finds this difficult. When her fingers do not bring the coin to the slot and she misses she tries to push in the coin with her palm which of course is not successful.
3.7 This has improved and she can now put coins into a slot much better but is not always consistent and the task is difficult.
3.8 Alicia can take things out of a bag and seems to have quite a lot of strength to hold a heavy item such as her bag or a shopping bag.
3.5.5 Alicia still has good strength in her arms.
3.9 Alicia likes to wave her hands around a lot in an up and down motion. She repeats movements like washing her hands which she learnt from a children’s song.
3.10 Alicia now makes a shaking with her hands, sometimes this looks like a dance however sometimes the motion is with both hands in fists and she shakes them almost with a look of excitement. She often smiles when she acts out this motion however.
3.11 Alicia can not move her hair from her face, its as if she doesn’t know its in her eyes.
She can not pull up her trousers and sometimes pulls up her nappy halfway and then pushes it back down.
3.12 Still does not move the hair from her face, she is able to pull her nappy up and down but not dress herself.
3.13 Alicia can not button her t shirt, although she can push her hands through the sleeves. I can see that she wants to do such things and often tries but somehow does not have the co ordination to do such actions.
3.8.8 Her arms are much stronger now, she can not put her shirt on or dress, she seems to lack co ordination with these dressing tasks.
4 Motor Skills – Legs and feet
4.1 Alicia is not stable and often clumsy – We noticed she has flat feet like my Brother and have purchased insoles for her shoes which can give help to correct flat feet. She has walked better since applying the insoles however when she runs she doesn’t bend her legs and this makes her running look very awkward and not in a straight line.
4.2 Alicia can not jump up and down – She can not bounce on a trampoline. She bends her legs frantically when I try to jump with her but her feet do not leave the ground.
4.3 Alicia loves to dance and she has some kind of rhythm which other children I notice do not have when they dance to music. She can follow a beat with her fingers opening and closing and movement of her arms and her body seem to be in co – ordination with the music.
4.4 Alicia can not climb up children’s play ladders or play frames. She misses each step when trying to climb. With assistance she holds on to my hands but leans backward when climbing for example ladders.
4.5 She can now walk up stairs although can not climb ladders she has better strength in her legs to take one or two steps with assistance.
4.6 I have seen Alicia hold her knee up to her chest and can hold it for a period so there is definitely strength in her legs.
4.7. She can now bring her knee upwards one after the other. Still can not jump up although makes attempts to try.
