Greenspan Floortime is Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s developmental intervention where child-led play builds the foundations of relating, communicating, and thinking through warm, responsive caregiving.
Sensory integration is the brain’s ability to receive and organize information from multiple sensory systems simultaneously. In the Greenspan/DIR Model, sensory processing is a core component of the Individual Differences profile — directly affecting a child’s availability for engagement, regulatory state, and capacity for two-way communication.
Greenspan Floortime designs play interactions that match and support the child’s sensory profile. Movement, tactile input, or deep pressure primes sensory-seeking children for engagement. Calm, low-stimulation interactions build safety for sensory-avoidant children. Floortime works with the sensory system, not against it.
OTs trained in sensory integration are natural partners in a Greenspan Floortime program. They assess and treat the sensory and motor differences affecting the child’s regulatory state and developmental engagement. When OT and Floortime are aligned around the same developmental goals, the combination is particularly powerful for children with autism and sensory processing differences.