Quick Neurological Screening Test (QNST)

The QNST looks for neurological soft signs — small irregularities in how a person moves, balances, and processes touch that fall short of a diagnosable neurological problem but often accompany difficulties with learning and daily functioning.

Fifteen tasks are borrowed from traditional neurological exams: writing a name, recognising shapes traced on the palm, following a moving target with the eyes, tapping out sound patterns, touching finger to nose, walking heel to toe, standing on one leg, skipping, telling left from right. None requires equipment beyond a pencil, and none is threatening. Together they sample motor maturity, muscle control, motor planning and sequencing, sense of rate and rhythm, spatial organisation, balance, perception, and attention.

• Texas Autism Resource Guide evaluation summary

Licensing Notes: Distributed through PAR, WPS, and others requiring a qualification of Level B. Record forms and Remedial Guidelines forms are consumables. Reproduction requires publisher permission.

Learn More: The kit includes Remedial Guidelines forms with developmental activities keyed to the findings, which is unusual for a screener and part of why it appears in OT practice. Note that the QNST-3R identifies soft signs; it does not diagnose.