VIDEO
Dr. Stanley Greenspan founder of Floortime speaks
I’ve heard of an educational model called Floor Time. What is it?
Floor Time is an educational model developed by child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan. It is sometimes referred to as Developmental Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based Model. DIR/Floor Time utilizes interactive experiences, which are directed by the autistic child, as a therapeutic activity.
Floor Time therapy is conducted in a low-stimulus environment with the duration of these interactive experiences ranging from 2 to 5 hours a day.DIR/Floor Time is related to the concept of play therapy, wherein the child’s activity of interest (play) is employed to develop other positive social skills. By following the child’s lead, the therapist or parent builds on what the child does to encourage more interactions.
Greenspan’s Floor Time educational model is thought to build an increasingly larger number and intensity of interaction between a child and an adult. This child therapist interaction progresses in a developmentally based sequence and is thought to result in the autistic child’s emotional development. Greenspan has described six stages of emotional development (or milestones) that children meet to develop a foundation for more advanced learning. According to Greenspan, these milestones are:
1. The dual ability to take an interest in the sights, sounds, and sensations of the world and to calm oneself down.
2. The ability to engage in relationships with other people.
3. The ability to engage in two-way communication with gestures.
4. The ability to create complex gestures and to string together a series of actions into an elaborate and deliberate problem-solving experience.
5. The ability to create ideas.
6. The ability to build bridges between ideas to make them reality-based and logical.
Greenspan theorized that by using Floor Time, parents and educators can help the child move up through these developmental milestones. Floor Time is focused on the emotional development of the autistic child rather than the cognitive development. It does not specifically address areas such as speech development or motor development, as traditional therapies do. Floor Time is frequently used for a child’s daily playtime in conjunction with other methods such as
It is important to note that the outcomes of children treated with Greenspan’s Floor Time educational model have not been subjected to adequate scientific scrutiny. Therefore, no statement can be made about the effectiveness of this therapy.
William’s comment:
Again, same thing. Dr. Quinn is dead on in our opinion. We’ve had experiences with a speech therapist who advocated Floor Time. We feel that a good
Term:
Child psychiatrist – A physician (medical doctor) specializing in mental, emotional, or behavior disorders in children and adolescents; is qualified to prescribe medications.
