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How Social-Emotional Interactions Drive Sensory-based Interventions: UNDERSTANDING AYRES SENSORY INTEGRATION® and Floortime
In the 1960’s, Jean Ayres, an occupational therapist, psychologist, and neuroscientist challenged traditional occupational therapy ideals by looking at the whole child and their perception and response to their environment, not simply focusing on specific components of a motor pattern. In 1972, Ayres stated that sensory systems develop in an integrated manner and depend on…
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How to Create a Greenspan Program
How to Create a ‘Greenspan Program’ (Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc. and its intervention, The Greenspan Floortime Approach®, DO NOT endorse or support ICDL or its DIRFloortime curriculum) More than Just an Intervention Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s approach to child development was revolutionary in its comprehensiveness. He understood that a child’s progress wasn’t just about isolated…
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How to set up a Play or therapy Space for Social-Emotional Growth
When applying an intervention for children with social-emotional challenges/delays, caregivers and professionals must maintain focus on the core fundamental process driving social-emotional development, sustained dynamic co-regulated interactions. Creating a sensory and emotionally supportive environment for a child can maximize the effectiveness of an intervention. However, if the environment does not support both the sensory and…
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I have an autistic teenager. When is it appropriate to start teaching life skills?
Discussion: “For most of the kids who are older and on the autism spectrum, the big problem is service and educational communities giving up on them,” states Dr. Greenspan, and abandoning thinking skills in the process. We shouldn’t stop challenging older children simply because they are autistic. That isn’t to say that life skills aren’t…
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If my child has autism should I push them to play with me? Should I leave them alone? What about self-stimming?
If your child has autism, should you push them to play with you? Or, should you leave them alone? What should you do about self-stimulatory play? How can you create down time for yourself and your child with autism? There are different types of ways to create “downtime” if your child has autism, notes Dr….