The Child's Psychomotor Assessment: Indications, Process and Results

Why consider a psychomotor assessment?

A psychomotor assessment (bilan psychomoteur) is carried out by a state-qualified psychomotor therapist (psychomotricien). It most often concerns children, but also exists for adolescents and adults. Its goal is to understand how the child inhabits their body, finds their bearings in space and time, coordinates movement and regulates attention and emotion during activity.

It is usually considered when several signs interfere with daily life at home, at school or during leisure:

• persistent motor clumsiness (frequent falls, difficulty running, jumping or cycling);
• handwriting and graphic difficulties (poorly formed letters, awkward pencil grip, quick fatigue);
• marked restlessness, or conversely unusual slowness and passivity;
• attention difficulties and trouble staying focused on a task;
• a developmental delay noticed by parents or by the doctor.

A psychomotor assessment does not replace a medical diagnosis. It is part of a multidisciplinary approach, usually on referral from a doctor who first rules out a medical cause and coordinates the pathway.

What the assessment explores

The assessment goes well beyond movement. It builds a global profile across several areas: gross motor skills, fine motor skills, muscle tone, laterality, body schema, spatial and temporal awareness, handwriting and attention. These observations are always linked to how the child experiences their difficulties — self-esteem, enjoyment or avoidance of certain activities, relationship to the body.

Normed tools

To objectify observations, the therapist uses standardised (normed) tests that compare the child's performance with a reference group of the same age. Without going into technical detail, examples include the M-ABC (motor coordination), the BHK (handwriting quality and speed), the Rey figure (visuospatial organisation) and parts of the NEPSY battery. These tools never provide a conclusion on their own: they feed the clinician's overall analysis, alongside free observation and information from the family and the school.

How the assessment unfolds

It usually takes place over several stages, across one or two sessions: an interview to gather the child's history; the testing itself, most often presented as games and playful tasks; the analysis that cross-references results, observations and the child's own experience; a feedback meeting with the parents (and, adapted to their age, the child); and a written report that can be shared, with the parents' consent, with the referring doctor and other professionals.

After the assessment

The assessment leads to an orientation, not necessarily to therapy. It may reassure and offer simple advice, propose targeted psychomotor support with clear, regularly reviewed goals, or refer the child to another professional (speech therapist, occupational therapist, doctor) when the difficulty belongs to a different field. When follow-up is set up, the therapeutic plan sets concrete, functional goals, and coordination with the school and other practitioners is essential. You can also look for a practitioner near you in our directory of professionals.

Reimbursement depends on the country and setting. In France, psychomotor sessions in private practice are generally not covered by statutory health insurance, except within certain structures or specific neurodevelopmental programmes; some complementary insurers offer a package. In Morocco, coverage depends on your plan. It is wise to check in advance.

Key takeaway

A psychomotor assessment is a global evaluation of motor skills, tone, laterality, body schema, spatial-temporal awareness, handwriting and attention, carried out by a psychomotor therapist, usually on medical referral. It relies on normed tests but above all on clinical analysis, and leads to a clear next step: advice, targeted support or referral. For psychomotor therapists, Cabdivin centralises patient records, assessment history and report writing. Free 14-day trial, no credit card required. Learn more about Cabdivin for psychomotor therapy.