March 17, 2026
“Now I know what to do.”
A Parent Reflection On Imitation
This week I met a new 15 month old friend and his mom. My little friend is not using any words to communicate yet, but he understands many words spoken to him. He loves his toys, books, and knows how to functionally play, which is on target for his age. I introduced the imitation hierarchy to his mom and we played together. I showed her novel actions on toys with her son which he imitated with delayed imitation (common for children his age).
For example, I modeled feeding his toy horse a toy carrot while he watched me. Five minutes later while talking to his mom, he imitated the action! We talked about the different levels of imitation and how 8-10 imitations at each level is indicative of readiness for the next level. As adults we can embed the different levels and learn to talk with our hands to incorporate more gestures throughout our day. This encourages their imitation of gestures.
We discussed the sounds that he is imitating, and I suggested songs she can use to encourage him. One of those songs that we all seem to know is “Wheels on the Bus.” This is a song with fantastic imitation progression from gestures to sound effects. It is the perfect song to measure how a child is doing as he goes through the imitation hierarchy.
What struck me during this particular session was my little friend’s mom’s response to this approach. She said, “This has been so helpful. Now I know what to do.”
I love this work and empowering parents to find new ways to interact and build communication skills with their children! I can’t wait to see their progress during our next session!