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Autism Teaching Methods: DIR®/Floortime™

Dr. Stanley Greenspan, a child psychiatrist in the Washington, D.C., area, has written extensively about a strategy of teaching children with developmental problems through the use of interactive play and relationships. The child's actions are assumed to be purposeful. It is the parent's or caregiver's role to follow the child's lead and help him develop interaction and communication skills.

For example, a boy may enjoy tapping a toy car against the floor. During a Floortime session, his mother may imitate the action, or put her car in the way of the child's car. This will prompt the child to interact with her. From there, the mother encourages the child to develop more complex play schemes and incorporate words and language into play. Floortime is more child-directed than some teaching methods. Its goal is to increase back-and-forth interaction and communication between child and adult.

School systems may incorporate this strategy into their programs, but generally do not make this their primary means of educating young children with autism or PDD. With its strong emphasis on social and emotional development, the Floor Time method may be a natural complement to a behavioral teaching program ─ such as Applied Behavior Analysis ─ or to a TEAACH program. Floortime lacks the controlled research studies of ABA or even TEACCH, but it is being used successfully by some families who prefer a play-based therapy as a primary or secondary treatment, especially for toddlers and preschoolers. Floortime advocates say it can be used along with other therapies.

The full name of this method is the Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based, or "DIR® Floortime," model. The Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders (ICDL), which Dr. Greenspan chairs, has published Clinical Practice Guidelines that can be requested through its web site.

1. Floortime DVD Training Series, The Basics: Relating and Communicating by Stanley Greenspan M.D. and Serena Wieder Ph.D. This two-disk set teaches the basics of using the Floortime Method to teach your child. Floortime DVD Training Series. Set 2 Sensory Regulation and Social Interaction for families who've moved beyond the basics. FloortimeDVD Training Series. Set 3: Symbolic and Logical Thinking completes their training series.

2. Dr. Greenspan's paper on "Developmental Patterns and Outcomes in Infants and Children with Disorders in Relating and Communicating".