importance of steadyness for learning. - Dr Kondekar
If the therapeutic goal is to improve body steadiness rather than continually promoting movement, the child can use that stable body state as a platform for much broader learning. The important distinction is: movement is not inherently bad; unnecessary, repetitive movement should not become the default way of occupying the child.
A useful framework for autism therapy could be:
STEADY BODY → STEADY ATTENTION → BETTER INPUT → AWARENESS → RECOGNITION → MEANING → COGNITION → COMMUNICATION
Once the body is reasonably settled, you can teach:
1. Listening
Listen to name being called
Listen to instructions
Listen to stories
Listen to descriptions of objects and people
Listen to conversations without immediately acting
Identify important sounds from background sounds
2. Looking and visual attention
Look at an object that is being discussed
Watch another person's action
Follow a pointing gesture
Notice changes in the environment
Find an object among several objects
Observe what another person is doing
3. Waiting
Wait before receiving an object
Wait for food
Wait for a turn
Wait while someone else speaks
Wait for an instruction
Wait without immediately grabbing, running or vocalizing
4. Hands-to-self Give the hands a job other than constantly manipulating something:
Hands together
Hands on lap
Hands on table
Folded hands
Hands on hips
Holding an appropriate object when needed
The goal is not simply “don't move your hands.” It is learning voluntary control over hands.
5. Following instructions Start with simple functional instructions:
Sit
Come
Give
Take
Keep
Open
Close
Bring
Put
Stop
Wait
Then progress to two- and three-step instructions.
6. Receptive language Instead of constantly asking the child questions, provide meaningful language while the child is receptive.
For example:
“This is your red cup. I am keeping the cup on the table. Now I am putting water in it. The water is full. Take the cup.”
The child learns language by hearing language attached to meaningful events.
7. Vocabulary and concepts A steady child can learn:
Names of people
Body parts
Objects
Actions
Colours
Shapes
Size
Position
Quantity
Same/different
Before/after
More/less
Open/closed
Hot/cold
Fast/slow
8. Imitation Steadiness makes imitation more purposeful:
Clap
Wave
Point
Touch nose
Put spoon in cup
Stack blocks
Copy a simple action sequence
The aim should eventually move from copying movements to understanding what the action means.
9. Cognitive learning This is where a stable body becomes particularly useful:
Matching
Sorting
Categorisation
Sequencing
Puzzles
Cause and effect
Problem solving
Memory
Simple reasoning
Predicting what happens next
Understanding relationships between objects
10. Functional communication Teach the child to communicate rather than merely perform a movement:
Request
Reject
Choose
Ask for help
Indicate finished
Indicate more
Identify
Comment
Share attention
Answer simple meaningful questions when developmentally ready
11. Social awareness A steady body allows the child to notice another person:
Someone entering the room
Someone calling
Someone pointing
Someone smiling
Someone giving an object
Someone needing help
Someone doing something interesting
This can gradually develop into shared attention and social reciprocity.
12. Learning from other people's actions This is particularly important.
Instead of making the child continuously do something, sometimes let the child watch and understand what another person is doing.
“Papa is opening the door.”
“Mummy is cutting the apple.”
“The boy is drinking water.”
“Grandmother is sleeping.”
This converts passive observation into cognitive observation.
13. Self-awareness Teach:
“I am sitting.”
“I am standing.”
“I am holding the cup.”
“My hands are here.”
“I am listening.”
“I want water.”
“I don't want this.”
The eventual objective is voluntary regulation, not suppression of movement.
14. Environmental awareness Teach the child to notice:
Who is present?
What changed?
What is happening?
Where are we?
What is being used?
What happens next?
What belongs where?
15. Daily learning This is broader than activities of daily living.
ADL asks:
“Can the child do it?”
Cognitive-developmental teaching also asks:
“Does the child understand what is happening, why it is happening, and what comes next?”
For example, while brushing teeth, don't only train the motor sequence. Talk about the toothbrush, toothpaste, teeth, water, cleaning, before/after, dirty/clean, and why we brush.
The central therapeutic idea can therefore be expressed as:
Don't keep the child busy merely to keep the child moving. Keep the child receptive so the child can learn.
And an important qualification: steadiness should mean functional postural control and voluntary regulation, not forcing a child to remain motionless. Some children need movement breaks, and repetitive movement may sometimes be serving a regulatory function. The clinical question is whether movement is helping the child become more available for learning or consistently displacing attention, interaction and cognition.
A concise model for autism-therapy framework would be:
BODY STEADINESS ↓
HANDS UNDER CONTROL
↓
LISTENING
↓
LOOKING / SHARED ATTENTION
↓
AWARENESS
↓
RECOGNITION
↓
MEANING
↓
COGNITIVE PROCESSING
↓
COMMUNICATION
↓
SOCIAL PARTICIPATION
This gives a much larger purpose to “steadiness”: not stopping movement for its own sake, but creating opportunities for the brain to notice, process and learn.
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