Imitation Isn’t Just Arms & Legs 🧠 | Trunk Movement Matters 🧩 | Autism Pediatric PT #19

I’m glad to share another session with my wonderful co-instructor, Eeshwar 👦🏽 — a 12½-year-old boy with autism. He is nonverbal and communicates primarily through movement (often pulling adults toward what he wants), with limited prompted use of a communication app. In this pediatric physical therapy session, we continue working on imitation of body postures, with a new added challenge: trunk movement. Rather than copying actions or movement sequences, the focus here is on copying positions — which requires increased motor planning, body awareness, and visual processing. 🧠 What This Session Targets This video focuses on imitation of postures where: the arms are symmetrical the legs are symmetrical the spine moves into flexion and extension Adding trunk movement (arching and rounding the back) significantly increases the difficulty of posture imitation compared to static positions. 🐱🐮 Postures Practiced In this session, we practice two yoga-based positions: Cat (spinal flexion) Cow (spinal extension) These positions require subtle but meaningful changes in head and trunk position, making them especially challenging for children working on imitation and body awareness. 🪜 Imitation Teaching Progression This session demonstrates the step-by-step progression I use when teaching imitation, especially with older children with autism: 1️⃣ Verbal cue only 2️⃣ Prior demonstration (he watches first, then tries) 3️⃣ Immediate / simultaneous demonstration 4️⃣ Physical assist, then gradually withdrawn 5️⃣ Full assistance needed to assume and hold the position I always begin by asking whether a child can copy a posture without assuming they cannot, then scaffold support only as needed to help them succeed. 👩🏽‍👦🏽 Family Involvement Matters Eeshwar’s mom, Sravani 💜, is actively involved and positioned where he can clearly see her demonstrating the positions. Children often copy best from people they love, and her involvement helps to: ✨ increase engagement ✨ support attention ✨ reduce frustration We also keep expectations clear (“first work, then reward”), pace the session carefully, and celebrate effort and success along the way 🎉🙌🏽. Developing the ability to imitate trunk movements like Cat and Cow helps build foundational skills for: motor planning body awareness postural control functional participation in daily activities 🎥 Watch Eeshwar’s Full Video Series Follow his progress from the beginning: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAkJbMrHyKjNhgwqxI9_oTLYJgDFfMmIu 🌐 Stay Connected Website: www.pediatricPTexercises.com Facebook: Pediatric Physical Therapy Exercises Email: amysturkey@gmail.com (I cannot provide treatment recommendations for a child I have not personally evaluated.) 📚 Children’s Educational Books P is for Poop and Pee Accidents https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BLSRJ483 A is for Anxiety https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LXQ3W6V A is for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QH9H5HR C is for Cerebral Palsy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088TSJCYP D is for Down Syndrome https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079P8HH49 A is for Autism https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071F4FFTB 📘 Professional Books for Pediatric Therapists Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Hips https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156736 Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Knees https://www.amazon.com/dp/0998156760 Pediatric Physical Therapy Strengthening Exercises for the Ankles https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TX2ZCFD 🌍 Captions To turn on captions: Click CC To translate captions: Settings → Subtitles/CC → Auto-translate