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Courses and Workshops

Neuro Sensory Motor Developmental Assessment

The two-day Neuro-Sensory and Motor Developmental Assessment (N.S.M.D.A.) practical course includes lectures about the N.S.M.D.A. and demonstrations of testing infants and children using this assessment. Participants will work together in small groups and will have the opportunity to assess children using the N.S.M.D.A. There will be group feedback and discussion of scoring and grading of each child, discussion on interpretation of results and planning for intervention.

Learning outcomes

  • Have an understanding of the background of the Neuro Sensory Motor Developmental Assessment (NSMDA) for infants and young children.
  • Be familiar with testing procedures for infants & children up to 4 or 6 years of age.
  • Understand the scoring and grading systems of the NSMDA
  • Be able to interpret the results
  • Be able to use the information in clinical settings to advise, refer & plan interventions
  • Understand classification of motor developmental performance of children
  • Understand the use of the test in research

Prerequisites

  • This course is only available to qualified and AHPRA registered physiotherapists.
  • A background knowledge of early childhood development is advisable.

Presenters

Laura Hemmings


Laura is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and Nursing at Macquarie University. She has been a physiotherapist for over 20 years and has spent most of this time working in paediatrics. She has practised physiotherapy across Queensland and New South Wales in children's and neonatal intensive care units and Growth and Development follow-up clinics for high-risk infants. Laura has worked extensively with Associate Professor Yvonne Burns over the years, including as a physiotherapy student at the University of Queensland, in the Growth and Development Unit at the Mater Hospitals, and also through research. She is an accredited NSMDA instructor and has led numerous NSMDA courses. Laura has a strong research interest primarily in developmental paediatrics but also in education and simulation-based learning. Laura completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2016. Her PhD included a Randomised Controlled Trial investigating the effect of physiotherapy intervention in children born extremely preterm or extremely low birth weight. More recently, Laura's research has focused on developmental screening and intervention. As part of this, she has validated a short screening tool, the Targeted Motor Control (TMC) screening tool, by comparing it with the NSMDA.

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Home address:
Courses and Workshops
24
Sat 24 - Sun 25
October
08:00AM - 04:30PM AEDT
High Street
Randwick NSW 2031 View map
Price:
Non-Member: $1,415.00
APA member: $972.00
Distance Discount: $912.00
Neurology group: $912.00
Paediatric group: $912.00
Registration closing date:
10 Oct 2026
Event status:
Closed
CPD hours:
16.50
* Early bird prices close 8 weeks prior to the course start date
Your registration status:
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At a glance
Price:
1,415.00: $Non-Member
972.00: $APA member
912.00: $Distance Discount
912.00: $Neurology group
912.00: $Paediatric group
Registration closing date:
10 Oct 2026
Event status:
Closed
CPD hours:
16.50
* Early bird prices close 8 weeks prior to the course start date
Your registration status:
Presenters

Laura Hemmings


Laura is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and Nursing at Macquarie University. She has been a physiotherapist for over 20 years and has spent most of this time working in paediatrics. She has practised physiotherapy across Queensland and New South Wales in children's and neonatal intensive care units and Growth and Development follow-up clinics for high-risk infants. Laura has worked extensively with Associate Professor Yvonne Burns over the years, including as a physiotherapy student at the University of Queensland, in the Growth and Development Unit at the Mater Hospitals, and also through research. She is an accredited NSMDA instructor and has led numerous NSMDA courses. Laura has a strong research interest primarily in developmental paediatrics but also in education and simulation-based learning. Laura completed her Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 2016. Her PhD included a Randomised Controlled Trial investigating the effect of physiotherapy intervention in children born extremely preterm or extremely low birth weight. More recently, Laura's research has focused on developmental screening and intervention. As part of this, she has validated a short screening tool, the Targeted Motor Control (TMC) screening tool, by comparing it with the NSMDA.


Learning outcomes
  • Have an understanding of the background of the Neuro Sensory Motor Developmental Assessment (NSMDA) for infants and young children.
  • Be familiar with testing procedures for infants & children up to 4 or 6 years of age.
  • Understand the scoring and grading systems of the NSMDA
  • Be able to interpret the results
  • Be able to use the information in clinical settings to advise, refer & plan interventions
  • Understand classification of motor developmental performance of children
  • Understand the use of the test in research
Prerequisites

Prerequisites

  • This course is only available to qualified and AHPRA registered physiotherapists.
  • A background knowledge of early childhood development is advisable.
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