Understand the language

What did my allied health professional just say?

I have sat on both sides of these conversations. I have worked professionally in child development for years, but I have also gone home as a parent and wondered how the professional language I had just heard was supposed to fit into everyday life with my own child.

So this page is here to translate the terminology into something more useful: what the word means, what you might notice in daily life, why the skill matters and one small thing you could practise today.

Try the translator

Type the word you heard.

Start with one term. You do not need to understand every developmental system at once.

What term are you trying to understand?

In everyday language

Bilateral coordination

Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the body together in a coordinated way. Sometimes both sides are doing the same thing, and sometimes each side has a different job.

What might this look like in my child?

Why does this matter?

We use both sides of our body together throughout the day, often without even noticing. Dressing, carrying, eating, writing, playing, climbing and helping around the house all rely on the two sides of the body learning to work together.

Try for 2 to 5 minutes

One little thing you could try today

Put three pairs of socks beside your child and spend two to five minutes matching and rolling them together using both hands.

Where could this fit into family life?

Carry a light laundry basket together with two hands.

Pull clothing up using both hands during dressing.

Hold a bowl with one hand while stirring a cool mixture with the other.

Roll a ball back and forth using both hands.

A useful question for your allied health professional

Ask your allied health professional which everyday tasks they most want your child practising with both hands, so home practice supports the same goal.

2–5minutes of practice at a time

This is the piece I do not want families to miss

The appointment helps us understand what to work on. Everyday life gives the brain opportunities to practise it.

Neuroplastic change depends on experience and repetition. That does not mean your child needs hours of exercises at home, and it certainly does not mean every family moment needs to become therapy.

It means that once we understand the skill, we can begin to notice little opportunities for your child to use it again. A sock. A ball. A school bag. A laundry basket. A family game. A few minutes of movement together.

It takes work and some skills take a long time to build, but those repetitions matter. I want to help you find them without adding more pressure to your family.

The word you heard is not here?

Ask me. Tell me the term your allied health professional used and the part you are having trouble understanding. As real family questions come in, this translator can become much more useful.

Ask Robyn

Understand the word, then put it into real life.

Once the professional language makes sense, the next step is finding where that skill already appears in your child's routines, independence and family connection.

Explore the family tools

What did my allied health professional just say?

The appointment helps us understand what to work on. Everyday life gives the brain opportunities to practise it.

Neuroplastic change depends on experience and repetition. That does not mean your child needs hours of exercises at home, and it certainly does not mean every family moment needs to become therapy.

It takes work and some skills take a long time to build, but those repetitions matter. I want to help you find them without adding more pressure to your family.