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Typical Development Through the Lens of a Therapist: 4-5 years old

Dec 23, 2022

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Speech and Language: Receptive Language Pays attention to short story and answers basic questions about it Understands complex questions (why, how) Understands spatial concepts such as “behind” and “next to” Expressive Language: Uses 200-300 words

Speech and Language:

Receptive Language

  • Pays attention to short story and answers basic questions about it
  • Understands complex questions (why, how)
  • Understands spatial concepts such as “behind” and “next to”

Expressive Language:

  • Uses 200-300 words
  • Can describe how to do an activity
  • Can define words
  • Tells stories that stick to one topic
  • Uses sentences that give lots of details

Articulation:

  • Production of sounds becomes increasingly clear but..
  • Child often makes mistakes pronouncing long, difficult, or complex words (e.g., hippotamus)

Play/ Social Development:

  • Continued cooperative play
  • Highly social, talkative, and versatile
  • May play loosely organized group games (e.g., tag, duck-duck-goose)
  • Range of emotions (aggression, jealousy, sadness) can be defiant

Occupational Therapy:

Fine/Visual Motor Skills:

  • Uses a dynamic tripod grasp
  • Cuts out simple shapes
  • Begins to draw people (stick figures)
  • Copies own name
  • Strings large beads
  • Folds paper with crease

Gross Motor Skills:

  • Jumps down from high step
  • Skips
  • Walks up and down stairs reciprocally

Self-help Skills:

  • Dresses self, including fasteners
  • Complete toilet routine including hand washing

Cognition:

  • Understands rules to play games
  • Participates in planning group activity
  • Beginning to abstract thought and reasoning to solve problems (executive functioning)