Eye hand coordination is the controlled hand movement with coordination of eye movement ,also it needs processing of visual input to reach and grasp using proprioceptive sense of hands guided by the eyes.

Development of eye hand coordination

The development of eye hand coordination starts between 4 to 14 months of age in conjunction with the fine motor skill. It is a skill involving small muscles of hand in coordination with eyes. By six months of age infants will be able to reach objects accurately with control. After six months child will be able to reach for objects with one arm .At the age of 8 months, dexterity improves and the child begins to transfer objects from hand to hand and bang objects together.

Birth to three years

*Child start to develop vision that allows them to follow slowly moving objects with their eyes.

*Begin to develop basic hand eye skills such as reaching, grasping and releasing.

*Begin to recognize concepts of place and direction up ,down, in ,out.

*Develop the ability to manipulate objects with fine motor skills.

Three to five years

*Continue to develop eye hand coordination skill and a preference for left or right handedness

*Develop eye hand  body coordination, eye teaming and depth perception.

Five to seven years

*Develop fine motor skill of handling tools such as scissors

*Learn to focus vision on school work for hours everyday

 Common problems

Eye hand coordination  problems are usually first noted as lack of skill in drawing and writing. Drawing shows poor orientation On the page and child is unable to stay within the lines when using the coloring book. Poor eye hand coordination is due to wide variety of causes, but the main two coordination  are vision problems and movement disorder which includes ataxia, hypertonia, strabismus, amblyopia, crossed  laterality.  Poor eye hand  coordination can have a wide variety of causes, but the main two  condition responsible for inadequate eye hand coordination are visual  problem and movement disorder.

Visual Impairment

It is the loss of vision  that it hard or impossible to perform daily tasks without specialized adaptation.

Movement disorder

These are characterized by impaired body movements.

In general occupational therapist fosters eye hand coordination by enhancing the neutral pathways that integrate visual information with hand movements and strengthening the muscles in the eye and hands.

Following are the signs:

Clumsiness

Frustration

Holding things too close to eyes

Avoiding activities

Poor coordination

Poor vision or motor control

Poor eye hand coordination lead to learning disability, developmental disorder,.The child will have  problem to learn and write, difficulty in playing sports, difficulty in taking notes, poor hand writing, attention span will be less, will find difficulty in eating ,dressing ,sewing.

Test for eye hand coordination

Synchronization test UPDA-SHIF

Simultaneity test DIAT-SHIF

Coordination test HECOOR

Speed test REST-HECOOR

Resolution test REST-SPER

Some activities to improve eye hand coordination

Batting the ball

Tying shoelace

Writing a sentence

Combing hair

Threading and lacing

Skittles

Balloon toss

Sand pit toys

Cutting and sticking

Skipping rope

Bean bag toss

Drawing

Scribbling

Mazes and connect dots tasks

Dressing up dolls

Tossing bean bags

Juggling

Playing Simon says

Using an etch a Sketch

Stringing beads

Play tennis

Bowling

Finger painting

Egg and spoon race

Having a pillow fight

Building blocks activities

Lego

Jenga blocks

Puzzles

Throw and catch ball

Construction toys