Research shows, and professionals agree, that having social interest and developing social skills are necessary for long term social-emotional health. However, there seems to be a common misconception that schools and ‘peer modeling’ are responsible for a child’s social skill development. While that would make everyone’s lives easier, it is simply not true. Social skills...
“We believe this is due to a primary biological challenge in connecting their emotions to their motor systems or motor planning. Because they can’t sequence their actions under the guidance of their desires, they may want closeness but can’t figure out how to translate that desire into action (communication).” — Dr. Stanley Greenspan Engaging Autism,...
“With this approach, children learn to master critical abilities missed or derailed along their developmental path—namely, the ability to relate to others with warmth and pleasure, communicate purposefully and meaningfully… and, to varying degrees, think logically and creatively.” — Dr. Stanley Greenspan Engaging Autism, Page 3 Dr. Stanley Greenspan defined Floortime as an intervention that...
“The principle in encouraging two-way communication and social problem-solving is to inspire the child to do something to you the therapist or caregiver—to take initiative, rather than you doing something to the child.” — Dr. Stanley Greenspan Engaging Autism Page 94 If you were lucky enough to have experienced a consultation with Dr. Greenspan, whether...
Developmentally appropriate play is different from age-appropriate play. Age-appropriate play is determined by looking at a child’s chronological age and determines what types of toys and activities a child should be using and participating in to match their peers interests and abilities. Developmentally appropriate play first looks at the child’s abilities to communicate, move their...
When learning Dr. Greenspan’s Greenspan/DIR™ Model, or as it is referred to in its final version, The Learning Tree, it is important to understand why Dr. Greenspan used various terms such as stages, levels, milestones, and capacities in his 40 books referring to the Social-Emotional Developmental Levels/Stages/Milestones/ Capacities he became so famous for identifying and...
“…if a child has been isolated in his own world, nothing is better than to have him want to be with a parent or caregiver ‘too much.’ Once children are in relationships, we can gradually help them learn to be independent.” — Dr. Stanley Greenspan Engaging Autism, Page 18 For most children, especially those with...
Many doctors and therapists believe that a child’s self-regulation comes from allowing the child to calm themselves down when stressed. Unfortunately, this belief leads to parents/caregivers being told to, While some of these parental responses can lead to a change in the child’s behavior, if they are used early in life, before a child has...
(Stanley Greenspan MD Inc. does not support DIRFloortime or its licensor ICDL) “The first step in engagement is… follow the child’s lead, regardless of where his interest lies… following the child’s lead need not limit you the caregiver to doing only what the child does… you begin to enter her world through her lead and...
“The goal of treatment within the DIR/Floortime model is to build foundations for healthy development, rather than to work only on surface behavior and symptoms.” “A child who learns only to memorize scripts may, a year later, have lots of scripts but still be unable to have a conversation or think creatively or logically.” —...
