The History of DIR/Floortime and the Greenspan Floortime Approach®

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History  •  Updated 2026

How Dr. Stanley Greenspan coined DIR/Floortime, why Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. renamed the approach the Greenspan Floortime Approach® after his passing in 2010, and how the curriculum has stayed the same.

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Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD — clinical professor of psychiatry, behavioral sciences, and pediatrics, and creator of the DIR/Floortime developmental intervention
Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD — creator of DIR/Floortime, founding president of Zero to Three, and clinical professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Medical School.

At a glance

  • Dr. Stanley Greenspan coined the term DIR/Floortime and used it in his lectures, books, and professional training courses throughout his career.
  • DIR stands for Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based. Dr. Greenspan first described the DIR framework in 1979 in Intelligence and Adaptation.
  • Floortime was first mentioned in 1989 in The Essential Partnership, co-written by Dr. Greenspan and his wife Nancy Greenspan.
  • The compound term DIR/Floortime was first systematically integrated in Dr. Greenspan’s Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses of 1997 and 1998, hosted by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.
  • After Dr. Greenspan’s passing in 2010, Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. — the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property — renamed the approach the Greenspan Floortime Approach®. The curriculum did not change.
  • ICDL also used DIR/Floortime during Dr. Greenspan’s lifetime, then rebranded to DIRFloortime® (removing the slash) while also revising the curriculum — a change that allowed them to secure their own trademark.

The short version

Dr. Stanley Greenspan coined the term DIR/Floortime to describe the developmental model and intervention he created. It was the name he used in his lectures, his books, and his professional training courses for the entirety of his career. After Dr. Greenspan’s passing in 2010, Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. changed the name of DIR/Floortime to Greenspan Floortime® to distinguish Dr Greenspan’s version of his work from the new version emerging from ICDL. While the name for Dr. Greenspan framework changed, but the curriculum did not. Greenspan Floortime® is Dr. Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime, taught by the people he trained and endorsed to carry it forward.

ICDL originally used the same term, DIR/Floortime, when Dr. Greenspan was alive. After his death, ICDL rebranded to DIRFloortime® — removing the slash — a change that allowed them to secure their own trademark on the reformatted name.

The longer version

The intervention now known as Greenspan Floortime® was originally called DIR/Floortime. That was the name Dr. Stanley Greenspan himself coined and used throughout his career. He used it in his foundational books — The Child With Special Needs, Engaging Autism, and others (copyrights owned by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.) — and in every professional training course he taught. The DIR portion stands for Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based, the framework Dr. Greenspan first described in 1979 in Intelligence and Adaptation, while Floortime is the specific technique that operationalizes that framework was first mentioned in 1989 in The Essential Partnership, which he co-wrote with his wife Nancy Greenspan.

After Dr. Greenspan’s passing in 2010, Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. — the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property — chose to rename the approach Greenspan Floortime® to distinguish the authentic and original Dr. Greenspan continuation of the work. The curriculum itself did not change. Greenspan Floortime® is Dr. Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime, taught by the practitioners Dr. Greenspan personally trained and endorsed.

The Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL), which Dr. Greenspan co-founded, originally used the same term DIR/Floortime during Dr. Greenspan’s lifetime. After his death, ICDL rebranded the term to DIRFloortime®, removing the forward slash while also revising the curriculum. That reformatted name allowed ICDL to secure a trademark of its own on that specific stylization.

Greenspan Floortime® is Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime approach, renamed after his passing in 2010 to distinguish Dr. Greenspan’s contributions to the work from newer versions emerging — the ‘Greenspan’ curriculum is unchanged. The Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL), which also used the term DIR/Floortime during Dr. Greenspan’s lifetime, later rebranded to DIRFloortime® (without the slash) to secure their own trademark on that stylized name.

The origin of “DIR” and “DIR/Floortime”

Dr. Stanley Greenspan in the early years of his clinical work, holding an infant — reflecting his foundational research in infant mental health, developmental psychiatry, and the DIR framework
Dr. Greenspan during the early years of his clinical work in infant mental health — the research that shaped the DIR framework and Floortime technique.

The developmental intervention and model, DIR/Floortime, now marketed under the two separate marks Greenspan Floortime® and The Greenspan Floortime Approach® was developed by Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD, over the course of the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Greenspan was a clinical professor of psychiatry, behavioral sciences, and pediatrics at the George Washington University Medical School and the founding president of Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families [1].

The Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) framework and the accompanying Floortime intervention techniques were introduced in Dr. Greenspan’s annual spring conference The Infancy and Early Childhood Training Course, and in peer-reviewed literature and in Dr. Greenspan’s clinical textbooks:

Training courses (hosted by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.)

  • The Infancy and Early Childhood Training Course (1997), hosted by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.
  • The Infancy and Early Childhood Training Course (1998), hosted by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.

Books (3 of 40 Copyrights owned by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.)

Book cover: The Essential Partnership by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Nancy Thorndike Greenspan (1989) — the first published mention of the Floortime technique
The Essential Partnership (1989) — Greenspan & Greenspan. First published mention of Floortime.
Book cover: The Child with Special Needs by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder (1998, Addison-Wesley/Perseus) — foundational DIR/Floortime clinical text
The Child with Special Needs (1998) — Greenspan & Wieder. Addison-Wesley/Perseus.
Book cover: Engaging Autism by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder (2006, Da Capo Lifelong Books) — using the Floortime approach with children on the autism spectrum
Engaging Autism (2006) — Greenspan & Wieder. Da Capo Lifelong Books.
  • Greenspan, S. I., & Greenspan, N. T. (1989). The Essential Partnership: How parents and children can meet the emotional challenges of infancy and childhood. Viking.
  • Greenspan, S. I., & Wieder, S. (1998). The Child with Special Needs: Encouraging Intellectual and Emotional Growth. Addison-Wesley/Perseus.
  • Greenspan, S. I., & Wieder, S. (2006). Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think. Da Capo Lifelong Books.

Throughout these conferences and publications and in Dr. Greenspan’s clinical training materials, the intervention is referred to as “DIR/Floortime” — with the forward slash — reflecting the compound structure in which DIR names the theoretical framework and Floortime names the operational technique.

First use of “DIR/Floortime” terminology & historical materials: the 1997 and 1998 Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses

The compound term “DIR/Floortime” was first systematically integrated and used by Dr. Greenspan in his Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses, held in 1997 and 1998. Those training courses were built around Dr. Greenspan’s foundational text Infancy and Early Childhood: The Practice of Clinical Assessment and Intervention with Emotional and Developmental Challenges (International Universities Press, 1992) [9], marking the formal integration of the framework with the technique.

Timeline

1979 Dr. Stanley Greenspan first describes the Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR) framework in Intelligence and Adaptation.
1989 The term Floortime is first mentioned in The Essential Partnership, co-written by Dr. Greenspan and his wife Nancy Greenspan.
1992 Dr. Greenspan publishes Infancy and Early Childhood: The Practice of Clinical Assessment and Intervention with Emotional and Developmental Challenges (International Universities Press) — the foundational text for the training courses that follow.
1997 & 1998 Dr. Greenspan’s Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses mark the first systematic integration of the compound term DIR/Floortime. The training courses are hosted by Stanley I Greenspan MD Inc.
1998 Greenspan & Wieder publish The Child with Special Needs (Addison-Wesley/Perseus).
2006 Greenspan & Wieder publish Engaging Autism (Da Capo Lifelong Books).
2010 Dr. Stanley Greenspan passes away.
After 2010 Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. — the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property — renames the approach the Greenspan Floortime Approach®. The curriculum does not change. ICDL separately rebrands to DIRFloortime® (removing the forward slash) while also revising the curriculum.
Today The Greenspan Floortime Approach® is taught, certified, and disseminated by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. as the authentic continuation of Dr. Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime intervention.

What this means for families, providers, and Medicaid programs

Where state Medicaid statutes, clinical coverage policies, and payer provider manuals reference DIR/Floortime as a covered developmental modality, they are referencing the intervention Dr. Greenspan created — not either organization’s post-2010 trademarked stylization. Providers trained and certified under the Greenspan Floortime Approach® are delivering DIR/Floortime as defined in Dr. Greenspan’s foundational publications and original training courses.

For families, this means that when your state’s Medicaid program covers DIR/Floortime or DRBI (Developmental Relationship-Based Interventions), a Greenspan Floortime®-certified provider is delivering the intervention the state benefit was designed to cover.

Frequently asked questions

Who coined the term “DIR/Floortime”?
Dr. Stanley Greenspan coined the term DIR/Floortime. He used it in his lectures, books, and professional training courses throughout his career, and first systematically integrated it in his Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses of 1997 and 1998, hosted by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.
Is Greenspan Floortime® the same as DIR/Floortime?
Yes. The Greenspan Floortime Approach® is Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime intervention. After Dr. Greenspan’s passing in 2010, Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. renamed the approach the Greenspan Floortime Approach® to distinguish Dr. Greenspan’s version of his work from newer versions emerging. The curriculum itself did not change.
Why did the name change from DIR/Floortime to Greenspan Floortime®?
After Dr. Greenspan’s passing in 2010, Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. — the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property — chose to rename the approach Greenspan Floortime® to distinguish the authentic Dr. Greenspan continuation of the work from the new version emerging from ICDL. The curriculum itself did not change.
What is the difference between Greenspan Floortime® and DIRFloortime®?
Both marks trace to Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime intervention. Greenspan Floortime® is the mark held by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. — the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property — and identifies the family-endorsed continuation of Dr. Greenspan’s curriculum, unchanged from his original. DIRFloortime® (without the forward slash) is a separate mark held by the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL). ICDL removed the slash from the original DIR/Floortime phrasing after Dr. Greenspan’s death while also revising the curriculum — a change that allowed them to secure their own trademark on that reformatted name.
What does DIR stand for?
DIR stands for Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based. Dr. Stanley Greenspan first described the DIR framework in 1979 in Intelligence and Adaptation. Floortime is the specific technique that operationalizes the DIR framework and was first mentioned in 1989 in The Essential Partnership, which Dr. Greenspan co-wrote with his wife Nancy Greenspan.
When was DIR/Floortime first used as a term?
The compound term DIR/Floortime was first systematically integrated and used by Dr. Greenspan in his Infancy and Early Childhood Training Courses, held in 1997 and 1998, hosted by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. Those training courses were built around Dr. Greenspan’s foundational text Infancy and Early Childhood (International Universities Press, 1992).

About Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.

Dr. Stanley Greenspan with his young son Jake Greenspan — reflecting the family legacy that carries Dr. Greenspan's clinical work forward through Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.
Dr. Greenspan with his son Jake — the family legacy that carries Dr. Greenspan’s clinical work forward through Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.

Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc. is the entity which owns the majority of Dr. Greenspan’s intellectual property and carries forward the clinical legacy of Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, MD. The organization trains and certifies clinicians in the Greenspan Floortime Approach® — the authentic continuation of Dr. Greenspan’s original DIR/Floortime intervention.

Website: stanleygreenspan.com  |  Trademark: Greenspan Floortime® (registered, United States Patent and Trademark Office).

Continue exploring

Learn more about Dr. Stanley Greenspan and his contributions to child development and autism intervention.

Read about state Medicaid coverage for the Greenspan Floortime Approach® under DRBI and DIR/Floortime benefits.

Explore Dr. Greenspan’s books and publications, or begin your own Greenspan Floortime® professional training.

Last reviewed: September 16, 2026. Prepared by Stanley I. Greenspan MD Inc.