Motor development in childhood. Neurobiological principles-concepts for assessment-concepts for abnormalities

Intrauterine general movements (GM) represent the early correlates of childhood motor function. The increasingly voluntary but initially inefficient and variable movements of infants and young children form the basis of adaptive motor development. The state of development of motor skills can be assessed during the screening examination using the quantitative cornerstone concept. Additional consideration of qualitative aspects of motion enables potential developmental hurdles to be more precisely anticipated and also differential diagnostic considerations. Individual neurological abnormalities can be classified in the classical clinical neurological examination using the concept of so-called mild neurological dysfunction (MND). In Germany the diagnosis of adevelopmental coordination disorder (DCD) requires the absence of another neurological disease and impaired intelligence. General development tests are available to assess the state of development and specific motor tests are available to narrow down the differential diagnoses.