(Stanley Greenspan MD Inc. does not support DIRFloortime or its licensor ICDL) Before we get into what Following a Child’s Lead is and why it is so important, let’s discuss what it IS NOT. IT IS NOT, Ove the years I’ve seen many therapists and parents who have been told that these are elements of...
Most people think of social-emotional health and social-emotional skills as synonyms. While these are related, they are also different. Traditionally, social-emotional skills are often described as a child’s ability to be calm, listen, express themselves, follow instructions, share, take turns, etc. While these are all part of social-emotional health, the skills, like sharing and taking...
These numbers are often given to describe the degree or level of a child’s challenges on the autism spectrum. While some professionals think that a Level 1 or ‘mild’ diagnosis means a child just needs a little support or a little help to ‘catch up’ and teach them a few missing skills, the truth is...
This randomized control trial, the gold standard for research studies, found that after only 3 months of using Floortime at home, these preschool kids with autism (ASD), showed significant improvement in every area measured by the study!
The outcomes indicate the effectiveness of Floortime as a method for early intervention of children with autism. In their chapter “Early Intervention of Autism: A Case for the Floortime Approach,” child development scholars Rubina Lal and Rakhee Chhabria conclude with the following: Early intervention is very important for enhancing the development of infants and toddlers...
Introduction All people have a right to education, including people with disabilities. Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have significant challenges in their educational path, including additional cognitive delays and physical limitations. A study was conducted on two children, one male and one female, with significant physical limitations and cognitive delay, to see if...
In her book review of Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think, Dr. Karen Zelan says the following: The authors devote several chapters explaining to parents how the Floortime model works. Much of what the authors describe represents informed, effective play psychotherapy. What’s more, the model was devised so...
The core symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder are all addressed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s Floortime Approach. The three components of Dr. Greenspan’s Floortime Approach–a capacity for intimacy, an ability to communicate expressively, and the capacity for meaningful speech–address these missing or underdeveloped abilities of children with autism. Each of these three missing or underdeveloped functional...
Often, sensory sensitivities in children with autism cause very young children to protect themselves from what they, because of their heightened sensory sensitivity, perceive as excessive stimulation. This is especially true when that perceived excessive stimulation comes from other people, even if those other people are the autistic child’s parents or caregivers. Maybe the child...
How can a parent learn from autism therapy research to help their child? It can be daunting. This is especially true for psychological research on autism therapy. We have already written a parent-friendly guide for helping make sense of research on applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapies for kids with autism. Here we have translated this...
