What is Floortime?

According to Dr. Greenspan, “Floortime, (is a) systematic way of working with a child to help him climb the developmental ladder...It takes a child back to the very first milestones he may have missed and begins the developmental process anew.”
It is a play intervention that is fun, where the parents and professionals have the role of moving the child through the developmental milestones, specific to each child’s needs, in activities that the child chooses. This process enables the child to learn and grow naturally, in a comfortable, happy, and playful environment.
The term FLOORTIME is also used when referring to the DIR model of treatment developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder for children in the autism spectrum and with disorders of relating and communicating.

What is the D.I.R. model?

D  Developmental
I   Individual differences
R  Relationship based

The D.I.R. is an all inclusive intervention to help children in the autism spectrum progress through their functional emotional developmental levels. It is necessary to determine their individual differences in sensory processing, modulation, muscle tone, and motor planning and sequencing, that can inhibit their ability to learn and cope in the world.
Relationships and affect are the building blocks necessary for social and emotional development, intelligence, and morality. Using the DIR model helps the child return to the earliest milestones that have been missed, and begins the process again.

Stages of Development

1. Self regulation and interest in the world - the ability to take in sensory information and cope with the highly stimulating environment
2. Engagement and intimacy - joy in the relationship, a child seeks out the face, sounds, and touch of a caregiver
3. Two way communication - opening and closing “circles of communication” (dialogue of looks, smiles, and gestures)
4. Two way purposeful problem solving - closing many “circles of communication” in a row using words, facial expressions, reciprocal touching, and movement in space.
5. Emotional ideas - pretend play, communicates wishes, intentions, and feelings, and plays simple games
6. Emotional thinking - connecting two or more ideas logically, express a wide range of emotions, capable of warm and loving relationships, can use his imagination to create new ideas.

Reference: Greenspan, S.I., & Wieder, S.; (1998). The Child With Special Needs. Reading, Perseas Books.