Rising from a supine position to erect stance is an important milestone in treatment of patients with neurologic dysfunction. The purposes of this study wed to describe the movement patterns that hemiplegic patients use when rising to a standing. position and to investigate whether movement patterns that an proposed to treat of functional activity, Seventeen patients were videotaped performing three trials of rising. Movement patterns were described with three body components : upper extremities, head-trunk, lower extremities. Subjects rose most commonly using a push and reach pattern of the upper extremities-symmetrical interrupted by rotation pattern in the head-trunk-an asymmetrical squat pattern in the lower extremities and a push and reach pattern of the upper extremities-symmetrical interrupted by rotation pattern in the head-trunk-an symmetrical squat with balance step pattern in the lower extremities.