ABSTRACT
Development of fine motor control The infant begins life showing disorganised, undirected and uncontrolled movement (Morris & Dunn Klein, 2000). As the infant learns to stabilise one part of the body he is able to move another; that is, he needs stability for mobility. With some exceptions this process generally begins proximally, at the centre of the body and moves distally, away from the body. Proximal stability creates the possibility for mobility and refined distal control. For example, the development of distal oral-motor and hand function depends upon the development of neck and shoulder girdle stability which in turn are dependent upon head, trunk and pelvic stability. Both oral and hand skills follow a gross to fine progression. Oral skills develop from jaw stability to refined tongue and lip movements. Manual skills develop from a palm or whole hand grasp to the isolation of the index finger and refined pincer grip.
