By around age 4, most children have developed a reasonably stable internal awareness of body midline and spatial orientation. These internal reference points help the brain understand where the body is in space and provide an awareness of our “centre”.
An integrated awareness of body centre helps us understand the left and right sides of the body in relation to the midline, as well as concepts such as top and bottom or up and down in relation to our spatial orientation. It let’s us feel like the centre of our own world.
Difficulties developing or integrating these systems may be associated with challenges in visual processing, balance, posture and coordination.
In the classroom, these challenges may contribute to difficulties such as:
- letter or number reversals
- writing unevenly across a page
- delayed or inconsistent hand dominance
- skipping or repeating lines while reading
- difficulty maintaining alignment in vertical maths columns
Coordination difficulties may appear as:
- bumping into door frames
- drifting into lane ropes while swimming
- becoming “wrong-footed” during sport
- taking longer to learn a new movement pattern
Difficulties with balance and postural control may present as:
- slouching
- leaning to one side
- poor balance
- motion sickness
- dislike or avoidance of heights and fast-moving rides
One less recognised impact of poorly integrated midline and spatial orientation systems may be an increase in neurological processing load. When the brain must work harder to determine where the body is in space, more mental effort is required for everyday tasks. This might contribute to mental fatigue and reduced concentration.
Some clinicians also observe increased vigilance, caution or anxiety in children who have difficulty accurately perceiving their body’s position in space. When movement and spatial orientation require extra conscious effort, children may appear hesitant to try new activities or unfamiliar environments.
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