Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS)
What It Measures
The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) measures how an infant's gross motor skills are developing, from birth through the age of independent walking — roughly the first 18 months. Rather than putting the baby through set tasks, the therapist watches spontaneous movement with minimal handling, using a toy for encouragement.
Fifty-eight items are grouped by position: 21 prone, 9 supine, 12 sitting, and 16 standing. Each item looks at three elements of movement — weight bearing, posture, and antigravity control — and is scored observed or not observed, giving a raw score from 0 to 58. That score converts to a percentile against age-matched norms, which is what lets a team distinguish an infant tracking below peers from one who is simply on the later end of typical.
Additional Notes
Licensing Notes: The AIMS is published by Elsevier as part of Motor Assessment of the Developing Infant (Piper & Darrah). Purchasing the book is the route to the score sheet and norms