Many times a person who has trouble learning is labeled lazy or disobedient. They might be diagnosed with ADD/ADHD, autism or dyslexia. The problem may be the person’s Perceptual-Motor Development (PMD) did not develop fully or developed with tension.

People with perceptual-motor deficits do not process information the way most people do. A ten-year-old girl said, “Sometimes I get confused and I have to figure out a different way of doing it.” A thirty-year-old policeman said, “The academy was easy once I figured out my system.” I observed a six-year-old trying to find her solid purple coat on a coat rack full of pink and purple coats and backpacks. Hers was the only solid purple coat on the rack and I saw it immediately. She started at the end of the rack and touched each item until she came to her coat. She said, “Here it is” and ran off to recess. She had developed her own method of finding her coat.

People who have perceptual-motor deficits are usually very intelligent. However, they do not feel smart because learning is so hard for them. They are inconsistent; sometimes they get it and sometimes they don’t.

The information on this website is the work of Liz Davies and Linda Thompson. Mrs. Davies studied under Dr. Newell C. Kephart and for 30 years ran the Achievement Center for Learning in Porterville, California. She worked successfully with thousands of people who suffered from perceptual-motor deficits. Linda Thompson trained with Mrs. Davies from 1993-1996.

Mrs. Davies information has been copyrighted by her daughter Ann White.