Splinter skill

A splinter skill is an "ability to do a specific task that does not generalize to other tasks", according to Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction.^[1] Cheatum and Hammond define them as skills learned that are above the child's age.^[2] Jacks writes that they are skills that are not "an integral part of the orderly sequential development"; that is, skills mastered before they are developmentally expected.^[3]

According to Ayres and Robbins, an example is "the ability to play a particular piece on the piano without having the generalized ability to play the piano".^[4]