Autism? Not Looking at Faces? Let's Practice on a Swing 👀 | Severe Autism PT #8

🎬 New here? Start with Video #1 in Emily's playlist:    • Pediatric Physical Therapy with Emily, a P...   👋🏽 Hi, I’m Amy Sturkey, a retired pediatric physical therapist with over 35 years of experience. Meet Emily, my wonderful co-instructor for this series. 👩🏻 Emily is 23 years old and has autism. She was a typically developing child until about 2½ years of age, when she experienced a regression in her communication skills after already beginning to talk. She was diagnosed with autism shortly thereafter. Emily presents with a complex clinical picture, including a seizure disorder, aphasia, significant motor planning challenges, and a processing delay. She is nonverbal and demonstrates postural insecurity, along with anxiety. She has difficulty with mood regulation and can be very emotionally labile, with episodes of physical aggression and frequent breath-holding behaviors. Emily participates in physical therapy, speech therapy, ABA, therapeutic horseback riding, and adaptive cheerleading. --- In this video, Emily works on functional vision, social referencing, visual attention, and response inhibition while sitting on a platform swing. 👀🟣 I often find that my individuals with autism don't use their vision well for functional tasks. They may not naturally watch demonstrations or look to another person's face for information. In this activity, Emily watches my face to decide whether to place a block into a bowl. I nod "yes" when she should put it in and shake my head "no" when she should wait. Emily hadn't played this game in a long time, and we didn't practice beforehand. She quickly remembered the rules and consistently responded correctly once she attended to my face. I intentionally use exaggerated facial expressions for Emily. Individuals who are more advanced can learn from subtler visual cues. Forward-and-back swinging is generally calming and helps Emily stay engaged while learning. 🌈 This activity is a great way to practice: • Functional vision 👀 • Social referencing 👩🏿‍🦱🤝👩🏻 • Reading facial expressions 👩🏽↔️👩🏻 • Response inhibition • Sensory learning 🧠 --- 📚 My Books for Kids & Therapists Children’s 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 "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 --- 📧 Contact [email protected] --- 🌍 Captions Help Everyone 🌍 I carefully review captions so more people can follow along, even if English isn’t your first language 👩🏿‍🦱🤝👩🏻 👨🏽‍🦱🤝👨🏻 👩🏾‍🦱🤝👨🏼 To turn on captions: Click CC To change the language: Settings (⚙️) → Subtitles/CC → Auto-translate 🌐 --- ⏱️ Video Chapters 0:00 Meet Emily 0:27 Starting with sensory input 0:35 Working on functional vision 0:46 Learning from facial expressions 1:22 Why looking at faces matters 2:13 Exaggerating the facial cues 2:52 Why combine swinging with learning? 3:13 Closing thoughts --- ⚠️ Important note: Sensory and motor responses vary widely between individuals. What is effective for one person may not be appropriate for another. 👨🏾‍🦽↔️👩🏼‍🦯 (Please note: It is not ethical for me to provide treatment recommendations for a child I have not personally evaluated.) 👩🏽‍⚕️📌