1. Our Spatial and
Sequential Ordering
Systems
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2. I fel a cleavage in m y m ind
t
As if m y m ind had split;
I tried to m atch it, s eam by s eam,
But coul not m ake them fit
d
The thought behind I strove to j
oin
Unto the thought before,
But s equence ravelled out of reach
Like bal upon a fl
ls oor
2

3. Your child encounters the d em and s for sequential and
spatial ordering throughout her d ay in school. Sequential
ord ering com es into pl when :
ay
 a stud ent recounts the steps in a science experim ent
 thinks through the stages of a planned art proj ect
 plays scales on the piano
 tracks the plot of a story
 pictures an octagon in his m ind
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4.  Even when wel equipped with strengths in attention,
l
earning would be
m em ory, and language, a stud ent’s l
chaotic were it not for the organizing j
obs by these
two ord ering system s.
 They have their head quarters on opposite sides of
our brain ( sequential usually on the l sid e and
eft
spatial on the right ), and they are expected to grow
in their capacities and efficiencies as kid s progress
through school.
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5.  Sequential and spatial ord ering hel our child ren
p
l evels that range from the most
earn on d istinct l
rudimentary sorting out of sim ple instructions to the
most intricate ways of l earning and perform ing.
 The 5 levels of ord ering are as follows :
 Perceiving – figuring out the im portant
characteristics and relationships insid e a sequence
pattern ( ord er of beats in a m usical pattern )
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6. 
 Remembering – retaining the serial ord er or spatial
relationship that you have perceived for later use
( rem em bering the shape of a country on a m ap)
 Creating – putting out prod ucts that are arranged
in a useful and / aesthetically pleasing sequence
or
or spatial pattern ( creating a m elod y, m aking a
ceram ic bowl )
 Organizing – being good at tim e m anagem ent
( sequential ) and m aterials ( spatial )
6

7. 5. Thinking on a higher plane – using sophisticated
reasoning, probl solving, and concept form ation
em
through spatial and sequential ord ering ( thinking
through a m ath problem in a logical m anner or
picturing a hom e d esigned from a bl print )
ue
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8. Spatial Versus Sequential Ordering:
W woul you r herbe good at
hich d at ?
 Assum ing that you want to succeed in school,
sequential ordering would be preferred over spatial
ord ering.
 School is a tangle of sequential chains that threatens
to shackle our stud ents. So, d espite a d ysfunction in
the spatial system – a child m ight still score straight
A’s in the report card .
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9. Keeping a watchful eye on sequential and
spatial ordering as child ren age
 Parents and teachers can see that d uring the earl
iest
grad es, kid s are introduced to the world of time and
sequence at a pretty sophisticated level.
 D iscerning the order of letters in the alphabet,
figuring out which numbers are greater than which
others, and telling time represent sequencing
m ilestones for five to seven year ol s, who are also
d
expected to m op up time-soaked vocabulary, word s
such as “before”, “after”, “until”, and “ when”.
9

10.  Their ability to comprehend and use these term s
d epend s in part upon their inner sense of tim e and
sequence.
 By the m id d le of elem entary school stud ents m ust
,
com ply d aily with m ul step instructions:
ti
 “ Now go find yourwor kbooks, t open t t exer
hen o he cise
on farm animals , t one we wer doing yest day, t
he e er hen
answert t d and fourh quest befor you r what
he hir t ions e ead
I have putup on t boar
he d.”
10

11.  By the m id d le of el entary school sequencing is a
em ,
dominant force in mathematics.
 Multistep processes and m ultiplication facts, am ong
other things, are strenuous exercises in sequential
ordering.
 Meanwhile kid s are expected to tell stories, relate
incid ents, and construct written paragraphs using
logical sequences to guid e the flow of their thoughts.
11

12.  The d em and for accurate and fast sequential
ordering d oes not d im inish in second ary school
.
 As the workload increases, m id d le schoolers need
to d em onstrate time management skills.
 They are supposed to meet deadlines and
complete long –range tasks in a logical
sequence of steps.
 They need to be aware of time’s passage when
they take tests and quizzes in cl ass, so they won’t
run out of tim e or rush through item s they would
have tackled m ore accurately at an easier pace. 12

13.  Spatial Ordering is m ost im portant d uring the
earliest grad es as child ren are assim ilating the shapes
of num bers and l etter sym bols and engaging in such
tasks as pasting, tracing, cutting out, and so on, but
tends to fade som ewhat as a higher level acad em ic
necessity.
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14. Practical Considerations / strategies:
 To help stud ents overcom e their sequential
d ysfunctions - child ren and teenagers should wear
analog, not digital watches; they need to observe
the sweeping second hand and program
them selves for the passage of tim e in continuous
intervals.
 Every class in school should stress time
management, having kid s d evise sched ul es,
com plete projects in stages and d em onstrate work
in progress. 14

15.  Teachers and parents need to alert to kid s who
becom e disoriented, inattentive or possibl even
y
disruptive when faced with m ulti step instructions.
They m ay be battling inadequate sequential
memory.
 Teachers should repeat directions and encourage
these stud ents to check with classm ates
regard ing what is expected .
 These child ren m ay also gain from receiving written
or graphic directions. Al these child ren need to
so,
be aware that their m ind s are not hospitable to newly
arriving sequences.
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16.  Songs and rhym es about the alphabet,
the months of the year, and other practical
sequences are particularly effective.
 Music, in general can be a forceful
prom oter of sequential ord ering.
 A well-organized workspace at hom e is especial ly
curative. Parents should be accom m od ating in
helping a m aterially confused chil get organised .
d
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17. Mind over Muscle
Our Motor Sys tem
17

18.  Motor activity fosters physical cond itioning and
perm its the acquisition of a wide repertoire of
self help skills, ranging from clipping fingernails
without blood letting, to repairing a bicycle chain, to
sewing a hem .
 At its best it can also encourage coll
aboration,
planning, sel onitoring, and high m oral stand ard s
f-m
( i.e. good sportsm anship).
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19.  Efficient m otor output also hel accom plish som e
ps
important academic skills.
 Most obviously, som e of the m ost com plex
m uscular m anipulations are demanded for writing.
 There are countless stud ents with
good id eas whose fingers j can’t
ust
keep pace with their thinking, as a
result of which they come to despise
and avoid writing.
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20.  Well coord inated m uscular output also works its
wond ers in som e less obvious ways. When
operating well, m otor actions reinforce
memory and learning.
 D irect hand s-on experience,
m anipulating m aterials in a
science experim ent, or engaging in athletic pursuits
can actually improve various neurod evelopm ental
functions, such as active working m em ory and
problem solving.
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21. Forms of Motor Function
 Five d istinct form s of m otor
function d om inate work and play
and together com prise the m aj or
com ponents of the m otor
system . They incl e:
ud
 Gross motor function
 Fine motor function
 Graphomotor function
 Musical motor function
 Oromotor function
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22. Graphomotor
Gross Motor Fine Motor
( Writing )
THE MOTOR
SYSTEM
Oromotor
Musical Motor
( Speaking)
22

23.  Gross motor function involves the activity of
large muscles, m aking possible all
actions need ed to serve a tennis ball,
engage in strenuous workout,
ped al a tricycle or toss a bal of hay.
e
 Sm all m uscles, principally those in our hand s and
fingers, d ed icate them sel to our fine motor
ves
function. The nearl synonym ous term – eye
y
hand co ordination – rem ind s us that the
purposeful m ovem ents of our fingers need visual
supervision.
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24.  Fine m otor and graphom otor functions are quite
d ifferent.
 Graphomotor function is the highly specialized m otor
output used in writing. M any stud ents boast superb
fine m otor abilities and unacceptable
graphomotor function.
 Music motor incl es the ability to play the harp,
ud
square d ance, appreciate and m im ick rock rhythm s
which in turn all d raw upon an ind ivid ual’s m usical
m otor coord ination – yielding varying degrees of
triumph or despair. 24

25.  Oromotor function is another m anifestation
of controlled muscular activity.
 O ur cheeks are stuffed with som e of our busiest muscle
groups, which carry out the incom patible rol of pul izing
es ver
food and gener ing speech.
at
 Such activity plays a critical rol across the gam ut of oral
e
com m unication from complaining to yodeling. O rom otor
fluency facil
itates participation in class d iscussions.
 Interestingl m any of the sam e kid s who have trouble with
y,
orom otor function experience difficulty with graphomotor
function.
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26. Gross motor
 Intense com m unication passes back and forth between a
coach or physical ed ucation teacher and his players. Kid s
d iffer in their ability to process language that describes or
regulates motor function.
 Som e very good l inguists in all areas of school have trouble
interpreting the word s of coaches! They sim ply cannot
d ecipher language that im parts m otor instruction.
 Attention is a starting player in m ost gross m otor
perform ance. The planning and previewing of an
athletic m ove d em and s tight control of
attention.
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27. Fine Motor Function
 Because so m uch of fine m otor output is kept on course
through visual inputs, you are apt to notice a strong
correlation between your child ’s effectiveness in spatial
ord ering and his/ fine m otor d exterity.
her
 An art class m ay becom e an acad em ic oasis, a m agnificent
blessing for stud ents with l
anguage – based learning
d ifficulties.
 A num ber of kid s who thrive and d istinguish
them sel at easel or with a lum p of clay live
ves
with humbling delays in reading, spelling or mathematics.
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28. Graphomotor Function
 It is com m on to be im pressively d exterous at fine m otor
function while harboring, disabling and disturbing
graphom otor d ysfunction.
 Graphom otor d ysfunctions are the most common reasons
a child is referred to the therapist.
 Parents and teachers are baffl by a bright kid who can’t or
ed
won’t write. There can be m any reasons for this kind of output
failure, but graphomotor dys function is often the
 m ost com m on cause.
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29.  Your child hates to write because of feeble connections
between his memory and his fingers . M otor m em ory
guid es writing as it d oes the m oves in sports. A very heavy
flow from m em ory takes place when your chil sets out to
d
put things d own on paper.
 Interestingly, stud ents who have troubl recal
e ling the m otor
sequences as wel as those who have trouble visualizing the
l
letters seem to arrive at one very consistent conclusion: they
discover and prefer printing to cursive writing.
 C ursive writing, invol the m astery of an unend ing flow of
ves
lengthy visual sequences. So, if and when a child insists
he can print better and faster than he can d o cursive, invite
him to use printing for the rest of his writing l
ife.
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30.  M ost often, they com e to detest writing, and talk so
much better than they write.
 These stud ents have motor implementation problems.
As a parent or teacher of such a child you m ay have
noted his awkward pencil grips. He m ay exert far too
m uch pressure, write with a fistlike grasp, or m aintain
his pen perpend icular to the writing surface. Every
muscle might seem to have put in for stabilization
duty, and none remain to move the pencil through
letters.
 Too often the effort required is so great that the quality
of ideas and spelling accuracy are eclipsed .
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31.  D ifferent breakd owns in graphom otor function can
dishearten your otherwise highly competent child,
rend ering him und erprod uctive when it com es to hom ework
com pl etion, test taking, and all written output in general.
 For m any the answer to this problem rests on a keyboard.
M aking use of a com puter’s word processing
program , they m ay evol into respectable
ve
writers d espite their graphom otor d ysfunction.
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32.  O ne cautionary note: m any of the sam e stud ents who
have d ifficul with graphom otor function experience
ties
trouble with keyboarding.
 This is because keyboard ing, l ord inary writing,
ike
involves rapid motor sequencing.
 Yet, a com puter keyboard offers a child a definite
advantage: the resul are l
ts ikely to be m uch m ore
aes thetically pleas ing.
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33. Minds over time: Keeping a watchful eye on motor
function as children age
 In the earliest grad es, arts and crafts pursuits take on
special significance as manual mastery is valued and
respected by both teachers and classm ates.
 Graphom otor function is a potential d elicate issue. Rapid
and precise l etter form ation can start to be a problem in
kind ergarten and persist stubbornl for years. Often
y
children who can’t write won’t write.
 They can lose even m ore ground at this age
due to a serious shortage of practice.
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34.  Computers offers stud ents convenient opportunity to
savor m otor effectiveness. Those with hand writing
problem s can prod uce attractive looking text.
 As noted earlier, kid s facing writing probl s can use
em
word processing program s, but they also need
consistent practice forming letters. M any require help
d eveloping a m ore workabl way of hold ing a pen or
e
pencil.
 Finally – it is all about find ing m atches for stud ents
to m ake the m ost of their school years and
ing
have m ore opportunities to succeed.
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