Adaptive Response – A successful, purposeful response to something in the environment, like adjusting your balance on a swing or catching a ball. Each successful response helps the brain organize sensory information better.

Gravitational Insecurity – An unusual fear or anxiety about movement or changes in head position, such as being tipped backward, climbing or having the feet leave the ground.

Interoception – The sense of what is going on inside the body, such as hunger, thirst, a full bladder or a racing heart. It plays a big role in potty training, eating and recognizing emotions.

Over-Responsive (Hypersensitive) – Reacting more strongly than expected to everyday sensations like noise, tags in clothing, food textures or messy hands. A child may avoid these sensations or become upset, which is sometimes called sensory defensiveness.

Proprioception – The "body position" sense. Muscles and joints tell the brain where the body is and how hard to push or pull without needing to look.

Self-Regulation – The ability to manage energy level, emotions and attention to match the situation, such as calming down after recess or staying alert during class.

Sensory Diet – A personalized plan of sensory activities, such as heavy work, swinging or quiet time, built into the day to help a person stay calm, focused and organized. Your occupational therapist designs it for your child's needs.

Sensory Discrimination – The ability to tell the difference between sensations, such as finding a crayon in a bag by touch alone or noticing which item is heavier.

Sensory Integration Therapy – A play-based OT approach that uses swings, trampolines, textures and other activities to help the brain process and respond to sensory information more effectively.

Sensory Modulation – The brain's ability to turn sensory input "up" or "down" so that responses fit the situation, neither too strong nor too weak.

Sensory Processing (Sensory Integration) – How the brain takes in, organizes and uses information from the senses (touch, movement, body position, sight, sound, taste, smell and internal body signals) to respond to everyday life.

Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) – Ongoing difficulty processing sensory information that gets in the way of daily activities, learning, behavior or play.

Tactile (Touch) – The sense of touch, including light touch, pressure, temperature, pain and texture.

Tactile Defensiveness – A strong negative reaction to touch that most people find harmless, such as light touch, haircuts, tooth brushing or certain fabrics.

Under-Responsive (Hyposensitive) – Noticing sensations less than expected. A child may seem unaware of bumps or messy hands, may seek intense input (crashing, spinning, chewing), or may seem tired and hard to engage.

Vestibular – The sense of movement and balance, based in the inner ear. It tells us which way is up, how fast we're moving, and helps control balance, posture and eye movements.

Bilateral Coordination – Using both sides of the body together in a smooth, coordinated way, such as holding paper with one hand while cutting with the other, or jumping jacks.

Body Awareness – Knowing where your body parts are and how they move without looking. It relies on proprioception and helps with dressing, sports and moving safely in a crowd.

Co-Contraction – Muscles on both sides of a joint working together to hold it steady. This stability is needed for activities like holding a pencil or staying upright on a ball.

Crossing Midline – Reaching across the imaginary line down the middle of the body, for example using the right hand to reach a toy on the left side. It is important for handwriting and developing a dominant hand.

Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder) – Ongoing trouble planning and carrying out new or multi-step movements, which can make a child seem clumsy or slow to learn skills like riding a bike or tying shoes. For trouble planning speech movements, see Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Fine Motor Skills – Small, precise movements of the hands and fingers used for grasping, buttoning, cutting, writing and using utensils. See Fine Motor Milestones

Grasp Patterns – The ways a child holds objects as hand skills mature, from a whole-hand grasp to a pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger) and later a tripod grasp on a pencil. See Fine Motor Milestones

Gross Motor Skills – Movements that use the large muscles of the arms, legs and trunk, such as crawling, walking, running, jumping and climbing.

Hand Dominance – Consistently preferring one hand for skilled tasks like writing and eating. It is usually established between ages 4 and 6.

Motor Coordination – Different muscles and body parts working together smoothly, with the right timing and force, to perform a movement.

Motor Planning (Praxis) – The ability to come up with an idea, plan the steps and carry out a new or multi-step movement, such as climbing through an obstacle course or learning to do a cartwheel.

Muscle Tone – The natural tension in muscles at rest. Low tone can look "floppy" and tire easily, and high tone can feel stiff or tight. Muscle tone is different from strength.

Postural Control – The ability to hold the body steady and adjust its position (sitting, standing, reaching) so the arms and hands can work. Poor postural control can look like slumping or leaning on the desk.

Depth Perception – Judging how far away objects are and seeing in three dimensions. It helps with catching a ball, using stairs and pouring.

Visual Discrimination – Noticing likenesses and differences in shapes, letters, numbers and pictures, such as telling "b" from "d."

Visual Figure-Ground – Finding an object or detail against a busy background, like spotting a toy in a cluttered bin or a word on a crowded page.

Visual Motor Skills (Eye-Hand Coordination) – Using what the eyes see to guide the hands, such as copying shapes, tracing, cutting on a line, writing and catching.

Visual Perception – How the brain understands and makes sense of what the eyes see. It is different from eyesight, so a child can have 20/20 vision and still have visual perceptual difficulties.

Visual-Spatial Skills – Understanding where objects are in space and in relation to each other, including left and right, letter reversals, and recognizing a shape even when it's a different size or turned (form constancy).

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – Basic self-care tasks such as dressing, bathing, toileting, grooming and eating. Also called self-help skills.

Adaptive Equipment – Tools that make daily tasks easier and safer, such as built-up utensils, button hooks, reachers, pencil grips or shower chairs.

Environmental Adaptations – Changes to a space or routine that help someone succeed, such as a visual schedule, a quieter work area, or grab bars in the bathroom.

Handwriting – In OT, handwriting is looked at as a set of skills, including pencil grasp, letter formation, size, spacing and speed, plus the motor and visual skills behind them.

Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) – More complex daily tasks needed to live independently, such as cooking, cleaning, managing medications and money, and shopping.

Play Skills – How a child explores, uses toys and plays with others, from simple cause-and-effect play to pretend and group games. Play is a child's main "occupation."

Self-Feeding – Bringing food to the mouth and using a spoon, fork, cup and straw on one's own. See Feeding Milestones

CMC Joint (Thumb Base) – The joint where the thumb meets the wrist. Arthritis here is common and can make pinching, opening jars and turning keys painful.

Cognitive Skills Training – Therapy to improve attention, memory, problem-solving and organization so a person can safely manage daily tasks after a stroke, brain injury or illness.

Energy Conservation – Strategies to save energy and reduce fatigue, such as planning and pacing tasks, sitting to work, and taking rest breaks.

Home Exercise Program (HEP) – Exercises and activities your therapist teaches you to do at home between visits to keep making progress.

Joint Protection – Ways of doing everyday tasks that put less stress on painful or arthritic joints, such as using larger joints or adaptive tools.

Manual Therapy – Hands-on techniques, such as joint mobilization and myofascial (soft tissue) release, used to reduce pain and stiffness and improve movement.

Neuromuscular Re-education – Exercises that retrain the brain and muscles to work together after injury or illness, improving balance, coordination and body awareness.

Range of Motion (ROM) – How far a joint can move. Active ROM is when you move it yourself, active-assisted ROM is with some help, and passive ROM is when the therapist moves it for you.

Sensory Re-education – Therapy that helps a person relearn how to interpret touch and other sensations after a nerve injury or stroke.

Strength and Endurance Training – Exercises to build muscle strength and stamina so daily tasks like lifting, carrying and self-care become easier and less tiring.