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Motor
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Therapy & support
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Therapy & support
What should I do if my child is clumsy and falls a lot?
Some clumsiness is a normal part of growing up, but frequent falls or trouble learning new physical skills deserve a gentle check. Start with a basic medical look-over for vision, hearing and muscle causes, build coordination through playful movement, and seek a developmental check if it persists. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child isn't crawling yet?
Crawling appears in most babies between 6 and 10 months, and many healthy children skip it entirely for bottom-shuffling or pulling to stand. Steady progress in strength and movement matters more than crawling itself; offer plenty of tummy time and floor play. Seek a check if your baby isn't bearing weight on the legs by 9–12 months, is persistently stiff or floppy, uses only one side, or loses a skill. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child isn't rolling over?
Most babies roll over between 4 and 6 months, with a wide normal range. Encourage frequent tummy time, free floor play and reaching to one side, and reduce time in seats and carriers. Seek a developmental check if your baby isn't rolling either way by 6–7 months, feels stiff or floppy, uses only one side, or loses skills. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child isn't sitting up yet?
Most babies sit with support around 6 months and sit independently by about 9 months, within a wide healthy range. Keep offering tummy time and supported sitting practice, and seek a developmental check if your child is past 9 months without sitting, seems very floppy or stiff, or has lost a skill. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child isn't walking yet?
Most children walk between 12 and 18 months, with a wide normal range. If your child isn't walking by 18 months, isn't pulling to stand or cruising by around 12 months, uses only one side of the body, or has lost a skill, book a friendly developmental check. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat should I do if my child walks on their toes?
Occasional toe-walking is common in toddlers and usually settles by age two to three, especially when the heels can come down flat and other milestones are on track. Seek a check if toe-walking is constant, the calves feel tight, it persists past age three, or it comes with delays in walking, balance or speech. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Cerebral Palsy have?
Cerebral Palsy mainly affects movement and posture — it does not define a child's intelligence or potential. Children with CP often have strong language, cognition, creativity, social warmth, persistence and resilience. Good support removes barriers so these strengths can lead, and any clinical AbilityScore® is formed only at a Pinnacle centre under clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Developmental Coordination Disorder have?
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder often have real strengths — creativity, strong verbal and storytelling skills, big-picture thinking, empathy, and remarkable determination. DCD affects movement planning, not intelligence or character. Strength-based support reduces the friction in daily tasks so a child's gifts can shine.
Read the answer AnswerStrengths in Children with Fine Motor Delay
Children with fine motor delay commonly have real strengths in language, social warmth, thinking and problem-solving, gross motor confidence, imagination and persistence. Fine motor delay describes small-hand-muscle development today, not a child's intelligence or potential. The best therapy builds skills out from these existing strengths.
Read the answer AnswerStrengths a Child With Gross Motor Delay Can Have
A child with gross motor delay often has clear strengths — language, thinking, memory, fine motor precision, social warmth and determination. Delay in large-muscle movement says nothing about the mind or heart. A clinician-led developmental check maps these strengths alongside any motor support needed.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Hypotonia have?
Children with hypotonia often have clear strengths — bright thinking, strong language and memory, social warmth, persistence and problem-solving. Low muscle tone affects how muscles activate, not intelligence or potential. Strength-led therapy builds physical skills through what already motivates the child.
Read the answer AnswerStrengths of Children With Motor Planning Difficulties
Children with motor planning difficulties (dyspraxia) often have real strengths: creativity, verbal ability, empathy, determination, strong memory and big-picture thinking. Building therapy on these strengths helps harder movement skills follow. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional., under clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerStrengths of a child with persistent toe-walking
Children with persistent toe-walking often show real strengths — powerful calves and ankles, good balance and agility, energy for active play, sensory awareness, and typically age-appropriate thinking, language and social warmth. Toe-walking is one movement pattern, not a measure of the whole child. A clinical assessment maps these strengths alongside any support needs.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Stereotyped Movement Disorder have?
Children with Stereotyped Movement Disorder often show real strengths: deep focus on preferred interests, strong visual and rote memory, comfort with routine, and warm family bonds. The repetitive movements are usually a self-regulating strategy, while the rest of development keeps growing. Good therapy builds on these strengths rather than erasing the child.
Read the answer AnswerWhat strengths can a child with Tourette Syndrome have?
Children with Tourette Syndrome often show real strengths — creativity, hyperfocus on passions, strong verbal skills and humour, good memory, resilience and empathy. TS does not lower intelligence. These strengths flourish in accepting, low-stress environments, and a clinician can map them alongside any support needs.
Read the answer AnswerWhat techniques are used in paediatric physiotherapy?
Paediatric physiotherapy uses play-based therapeutic exercise, gross-motor and developmental training, balance and gait work, stretching and positioning, hands-on facilitation, strengthening with age-appropriate tools, neurodevelopmental approaches and parent coaching — all tailored to a child's age and goals. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapeutic strategies strengthen a child's Motor development?
A child's motor development is strengthened through task-specific, repetition-rich, active practice delivered by paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy — targeting postural control, locomotion, strength, grasp and bilateral integration, dosed appropriately and embedded in functional play. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Developmental Coordination Disorder?
The strongest help for a young child with DCD is occupational therapy and physiotherapy using task-oriented, activity-based approaches such as CO-OP that practise real daily skills. Early, playful, repeated practice with school and family involvement builds motor skills and confidence together. Any diagnosis is formed only at a Pinnacle centre under clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Fine Motor Delay?
Occupational therapy is the lead support for young children with fine motor delay — playful, graded work on hand strength, grip, coordination and self-care, often with sensory-integration activities and a daily home programme. Early, consistent practice brings real gains. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Gross Motor Delay?
Paediatric physiotherapy is the lead therapy for gross motor delay, often alongside occupational therapy and guided home play, all aimed at building strength, balance and coordination toward milestones like sitting, crawling and walking. The right mix depends on the cause and stage, so an individual clinician-led plan works best. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with hypotonia?
Young children with hypotonia are helped most by physiotherapy for core strength and motor milestones, occupational therapy for hand skills and self-care, and speech or feeding therapy where mouth muscles are affected. Started early and paired with playful daily practice, these therapies build strength, stability and independence. Developmental measurement supports care planning; diagnosis requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
Read the answer AnswerTherapies for Motor Planning Difficulties in Young Children
Occupational therapy, physiotherapy and motor-speech-focused speech therapy are the core supports for a young child with motor planning difficulties. They work best when play-based, repeated little and often, and built around the child's interests. A clinical AbilityScore and any plan are formed only at a Pinnacle centre under clinician care.
Read the answer AnswerTherapies for Persistent Toe-Walking
Persistent toe-walking is often helped by physiotherapy to stretch and strengthen the calf and ankle, occupational therapy for sensory and balance factors, and physical supports such as orthotics, stretching or serial casting where the heel cord is tight. A clinician first checks for any underlying cause, then tailors therapy to the child.
Read the answer AnswerWhat therapies help a young child with Stereotyped Movement Disorder?
Stereotyped Movement Disorder in young children usually responds to behavioural support, occupational and sensory therapy, speech therapy and parent coaching rather than medication. Therapy focuses on safety, self-regulation and communication, not erasing the child. A clinical assessment is formed only at a Pinnacle centre.
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