Occupational Therapists in an educational setting should communicate their findings in a clear and understanding manner. The following definitions will help when documenting medically related terminology for the educational community. A therapist may continue to use medical terminology, but it should be defined in the body of the report. An individual therapist in his/her own words, wherever possible, may write definitions for these terms.
Abduction: movement of limb outwards away from body.
Active Movements: movements a child does without help.
Adaptive Equipment: devices use to position or to teach special skills.
Asymmetrical: one side of the body different from the other -unequal or dissimilar.
Associated Reactions: increase of stiffness in spastic arms and legs resulting from effort.
Ataxic: no balance, jerky.
Athetoid: child with uncontrolled and continuously unwanted movements.
Atrophy: wasting of the muscles.
Automatic Movements: necessary movements done without thought or effort.
Balance: not falling over, ability to keep a steady position.
Bilateral Motor: refers to skill and performance in purposeful movement that requires interaction between both sides of the body in a smooth manner.
Circumduction: to swing the limb away from the body to clear the foot.
Clonus: shaky movements of spastic muscle.
Compensory Movement: a form of movement that is atypical in relation to normal patterns of movement.
Congenital: from birth.
Coordination: combination of muscle in movement.
Contracture: permanently tight muscle or joint.
Crossing the Midline: refers to skill and performance in crossing the vertical midline of the body.
Deformity: body or limb fixed in abnormal position.
Diplegia: legs mostly affected.
Distractable: not able to concentrate.
Equilibrium: balance
Equilibrium Reactions: automatic patterns of body movements that enable restoration and maintenance of balance against gravity.
Equinus: toe walks.
Extension: straightening of the trunk and limbs.
Eye-Hand Coordination: eye is use as a tool for directing the hand to perform efficiently.
Facilitation: making it possible for the child to move.
Figure-Ground Perception: to be able to see foreground against the background.
Fine Motor: small muscle movements, use of hands an fingers.
Flexion: bending of elbows, hips, knees, etc.
Fluctuating Tone: changing from one degree of tension to another, e.g., from low to high tone.
Form Constancy: ability to perceive an object as possessing invariant properties such as shape, size, color and brightness.
Gait Pattern: description of walking pattern including:
-swing to gait – walking with crutches or walker by moving crutches forward and swinging body up to crutches.
-swing thru-walking with crutches by moving crutches forward and swinging body in front of the crutches.
Genu Valgus: knocked knee.
Genu Varum: bowlegged.
Gross Motor: coordinated movements of all parts of the body for performance.
Guarding Techniques: techniques used to help students maintain balance including: contact guarding-when a student requires hands-on contact to maintain balance.
Guarded supervision: when an individual is close to the student to provide physical support if balance is lost while sitting, standing or walking.
Head Control: ability to control the position of the head.
Hemiplegia: one side of the body affected.
Hypertonicity: increased muscle tone.
Hypotonicity: decreased muscle tone.
Inhibition: positions and movements which stop muscle tightness.
Involuntary Movements: unintended movements.
Kyphosis: increased rounding of the upper back.
Lordosis: sway back or increased curve in the back.
Manual Muscle Test: test of isolated muscle strength
· normal – 100%
· good – 80%
· fair – 50%
· poor – 20%
· zero – 0
Mobility: movement of a body muscle or body part or movement of the whole body from one place to another.
Motivation: making the student want to move or perform.
Motor Patterns: ways in which the body and limbs work together to make movement, also known as praxis.
Nystagmus: series of automatic back-and-forth eye movements.
Organization: a student’s ability to organize himself/herself in approach to and performance of activities.
Orthosis: brace
Paraplegic: paralysis of the lower half of the body with involvement of both legs.
Passive: anything that is done to the student without his/her help or cooperation.
Pathological: due to or involving abnormality.
Perception: is the organization of sensation from useful functioning.
Preservation: unnecessary repetition of speech or movement.
Positioning: ways of placing an individual that will help normalize postural tone and facilitate normal patterns of movement and that may involve the use of adaptive equipment.
Position in Space: child’s ability to understand the relationship of and object to himself.
Postural Balance: refers to skill and performance in developing and maintaining body posture while sitting, standing or engaging in a activity.
Praxis: ability to think through a new task which requires movement, also known as motor planning.
Pronation: turning of the hand with palm down.
Prone: lying on the stomach.
Quardaplegic: whole body affected.
Range of Motion: joint motion.
Reflex: stereotypic posture and movement that occurs in relation to specific eliciting stimuli and outside of conscious control.
Righting Reactions: ability to put head and body right when positions are abnormal or uncomfortable.
Right/Left Discrimination: refers to skill and performance in differentiating right from left and vice versa.
Rigidity: very stiff movements and postures.
Rotation: movement of the trunk, the shoulders move opposite to the hips.
Sensation: feeling.
Sensory-Motor Experience: the feeling of one’s own movements.
Sequencing: concerns the ordering of visual patterns in time and space.
Scoliosis: C or S curvature of the spine.
Spasm: sudden tightness of muscles.
Spasticity: increased muscle tone.
Spatial Relations: develop the ability to perceive the position of two or more objects in realtion to himself and to each other.
Stair Climbing: methods of climbing include:
mark stepping-ascending or descending stairs one step at a time. alternating steps-step over step.
Stereognosis: the identification of forms and nature of object through the sense of touch.
Subluxation: a partial dislocation where joint surfaces remain in contact with one another.
Supniation: turning of hand with palm up.
Symmetrical: both sides equal.
Tactile: pertaining to the sense of touch of the skin.
Tandem Walking: walks in a forward progression-placing heel to toe.
Tone: firmness of muscles.
Vestibular System: a sensory system that responds to the position of the head in relation to gravity and accelerated and decelerated movements.
Visual Memory: ability to recall visual stimuli, in terms of form, detail, position and other significant features on both short and long-term basis.
Visual-Motor Integration: the ability to combine visual input with purposeful voluntary movement ofthe and and other body parts involved in the activity.
Voluntary Movements: movements done iwth attention and with concentration.
