The TVMS-3 is a simple school-based OT assessment tool, but it has its pros and cons. Miss Jaime gives a quick overview of the most commonly used tool.
The TVMS-3 (Visual-motor integration) is a quick and easy assessment tool that measures how kids can integrate their visual and motor abilities. Like many other OT assessments, it has children copy geometric forms arranged in order of increasing difficulty.
Although the TVMS-3 is a commonly used tool included in an OT evaluation, it has pros and cons. Be sure to check out the rest of the videos in my Motor Monday series featuring Visual Motor tools.
It’s important to remember to check the student’s visual efficiency skills before testing visual perception. Visual efficiency includes visual scanning, focusing, convergence and divergence, saccades, and accommodation. If the eyes aren’t working properly, the visual perceptual and visual motor results will be inaccurate. This isn’t about the child needing glasses (visual acuity). To learn more, click here: Uncovering Hidden Vision Deficits in the School Setting.
There are many different school-based evaluations tools to choose from. It’s important to choose the tool that works for the individual student.
Hi Miss Jaime!
First of all, thank you for doing this section about School based OT. I’ve been working in a pediatric outpatient setting for 15 years but recently started working as a contractor in a school. So, it’s been a struggle trying to get use to the school structure, requisites, guidelines, and so on. Specially when my boss doesn’t want me to administer standardized testing, only clinical observations. For me that doesn’t make sense. Anyways, thank you, for everything you’ve done has been very helpful. I just wanted to give my opinion on the TVMS. I love /hate this test for the same reasons you detailed on your presentation,. However, I think it could be linked to handwriting since it gives you the error specifics that no other test provides. For example, if the child obtained a low score in overlaping you can correlate that with poor spacing. Or if he scores low in line sizing you can correlate that with letter sizing and so on. So, I usually ask for a handwriting sample and in my conclusion I add the correlationship as an evidence of my observations. Hope this makes sense. And once again thank you for your help in this and all topics you bring every week.