Evaluation & clinical guides
Comprehensive Guide to Pediatric Therapy Evaluations
A pediatric therapy evaluation combines interviews, observation and, often, standardized tests to understand a child's strengths and challenges. Standardized tools compare a child's performance with a reference group of the same age, but they are only one part of the picture — a good evaluation explains what scores mean for everyday life.
Last reviewed · Educational information only
Developmental domains evaluated
Gross motor
Balance, coordination, strength, running, jumping, ball skills.
Fine motor
Grasp, manipulation, bilateral hand use, precision.
Visual-motor integration
Coordinating vision with hand movement, such as copying shapes.
Sensory processing
How a child notices and responds to sensory input in daily life.
Self-care / adaptive
Dressing, feeding and daily routines.
Communication & social
Understanding, expression and interaction (usually assessed by an SLP or psychologist).
Common standardized tools
The tools below are widely used by occupational and physical therapists in the US. Editions are updated periodically, so ask which edition your evaluator used.
| Tool | What it measures | Typical age range* |
|---|---|---|
| Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-2; newer PDMS-3) | Gross and fine motor skills in young children | Birth to about 5 years |
| Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2) | Fine manual control, coordination, balance, strength and agility | About 4 to 21 years |
| Sensory Profile 2 (and related questionnaires) | Caregiver- and teacher-reported sensory processing patterns in daily life | Birth to about 14 years, depending on form |
| Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (Beery VMI) | Copying geometric forms; supplemental visual perception and motor coordination tests | About 2 years to adulthood |
| Sensory Processing Measure (SPM-2) | Sensory processing and praxis across home and school settings | Infancy through adulthood, by form |
*Age ranges vary by edition; check the publisher's current manual.
How to read a score report
- Standard scores typically have an average of 100; scores within roughly one standard deviation of the mean are considered in the average range
- Percentile ranks show the percentage of the reference group a child scored at or above — the 25th percentile means a child scored as well as or better than 25% of peers
- Age equivalents are easy to misread and are generally considered less reliable than standard scores
- Questionnaire results such as the Sensory Profile describe patterns compared with others, not a diagnosis
Preparing your child for an evaluation
- Schedule at a time your child is usually rested and fed
- Explain simply that they will play games and do puzzles
- Bring glasses, hearing aids or any equipment your child uses
- Bring previous reports, school notes and a list of your main concerns
- Tell the evaluator if your child seems unlike their usual self that day
Evaluations and diagnosis
Therapy evaluations describe skills and needs; they generally do not diagnose conditions such as autism or ADHD, which are diagnosed by physicians, psychologists or multidisciplinary teams. Read sensory differences vs autism for how these questions connect.
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