The Development and Evaluation of Adaptable Fine Motor Resources for Neurodiverse Preschool Classrooms

Occupational therapy (OT) supports the development of fine motor skills for children who display delays in motor development. It is important for these skills to be reinforced outside of clinical practice to promote generalization in all settings the child is involved in. However, there is a lack of evidence-based fine motor resources developed for classroom settings with the intended purpose of supporting a neurodiverse classroom. The purpose of this capstone project was to develop a fine motor project instruction guide for inclusive preschool classrooms, with supports for teachers to adapt activities to meet their students’ diverse needs. These projects were informed based on a literature review of OT interventions and observations at MDE preschool, a special needs school in Marietta, Georgia. An instruction guide was created and distributed to educators at MDE preschool to evaluate for potential usability, conciseness, and overall classroom impact. Feedback from educators was used to further revise the instruction guide and curate a final product. This capstone project provides practical, adaptable resources for educators to support fine motor development across varying skill levels within an inclusive preschool setting.