Physical Therapy for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Course overview

Providing physical therapy for children with autism can be particularly challenging given their unique social communication challenges and sensorimotor profiles. Individuals with autism have motor control challenges that make physical therapists uniquely positioned to contribute to the interdisciplinary team. In this course, we will discuss the clinical presentation of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. We will learn about motor development and motor challenges in autism. We will provide strategies to conduct a thorough physical therapy assessment and set realistic and meaningful intervention goals following the ICF model and a family centered approach. Finally, we will review evidence-based intervention strategies.