Developmental Capacities for Learning Blog
Everything you need to know to implement and practice DIR/Floortime on your own
Guests: If you hold a DIR/Floortime certificate or are a caregiver using DIR/Floortime with your child(ren) and would like to be interviewed for a podcast or write a guest blog, please Contact Us.
The Little Scientist: Progression of cause-and-effect play
Photo Copyright Affect Autism Virginia Spielmann returns this week to discuss cause-and-effect play. Virginia is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert Training Leader, a clinical consultant for the Interdisciplinary...
The Joy in Communicating with Melanie Feller
Photos Copyright Melanie Feller This week developmentally-based Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP), and DIR Expert Training Leader, Melanie Feller of Alphabet Soup Speech Consultants talks about providing speech and language therapy for verbal and...
Can visual prompts about time promote understanding in Floortime?
Photo Copyright Affect Autism Note: Early Literacy updates will resume the last week of May. It can be a real challenge for some of our children to understand concepts of time. This is a skill acquired as part of a higher functional emotional developmental...
Floortime Follow-up
Photo & Video Copyright Affect Autism A few months ago I spoke with Jake Greenspan about doing Floortime all day, anywhere. He gave me some suggestions to work on with my son in our play to promote my son's ability to come up with new ways to respond...
Sensory Lifestyle with Virginia Spielmann
Photo Copyright Affect Autism Virginia Spielmann joins us this week for the first time to discuss a Sensory Lifestyle. Virginia is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert Training Leader, a clinical consultant for the...
Avoiding the blame in Floortime
Photo: Jonathan Weiss This week I welcomed back developmental and clinical psychologist, Kathy Platzman from Floortime Atlanta, an expert on the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model. Not only is Dr. Platzman an Expert DIR...
Early Literacy the Developmental Way: Part 2
Photos Copyright Affect Autism Continuing with our spotlight on early literacy, we follow up from last month with our updates and next session with our early literacy expert. The last week of each month, we'll cover our progress teaching our son about reading and...
Maude Le Roux’s new Functional Developmental Autism Assessment Protocol
Photo Copyright A Total Approach Families often come to DIR/Floortime to build healthy foundations for social, emotional, and intellectual capacities rather than focusing on skills and isolated behaviors after a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The...
Floortime Strategies to Promote Capacities 4 and 5
Photo & Videos Copyright Affect Autism This week, Clinical Psychologist Andrea Davis of the Greenhouse Therapy Center in Pasadena, California, and co-author of Floortime Strategies for Promoting Development in Children and Teens: A User's Guide to the DIR Model...
Early Literacy the Developmental Way
Photos & Videos Copyright Affect Autism Up until now our son has only had foundation academics. He does not yet read nor write. He has only recently begun to have an interest in holding a crayon/marker/pencil, uses a full fist grip, and scribbles, pressing very...
How a caregiver’s regulation affects the child’s regulation
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week's special podcast guest is developmental and clinical psychologist, Kathy Platzman from Floortime Atlanta, an expert on the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model. Not only is Dr....
Celebrity Floortimer
Photo Copyright CBC.ca Another news story this past week really captured my attention because it resonates with everything that Floortime and Self-Regulation are about. During a Celine Dion performance in Las Vegas, a fan jumped on stage, rubbed against her, and...
What’s coming in 2018…
Happy New Year! We have some new things coming down the shoot in 2018! Here's a quick snapshot of what to look for this year at Affect Autism. Reading Recovery Reading Recovery is a one-on-one, individualized, developmental approach to reading, typically for first...
Floortime all day, anywhere with Jake Greenspan
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week Jake Greenspan of The Floortime Center joins Affect Autism for a podcast about making Floortime a part of your everyday life with your child to promote relating, communicating, and thinking. Jake is the son of the late Dr....
The Floortime Manual
Jake Greenspan, son of Dr. Stanley Greenspan, who created the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model, has devoted his career to his father's legacy. He is based at The Floortime Center in Bethesda, MD and has recently published a manual...
Repetition in autism therapy: A closer look
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week we have Dr. Josh Feder with us from sunny Solana Beach, California where he is a father of a grown autistic son, a child and family psychiatrist using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model and...
Inspiring relating, communicating, and thinking at different developmental levels
The final week of our back-to-school series brings you a follow-up to last week's blog about process-oriented learning. We asked some DIR Expert Training Leaders and school practitioners about providing Floortime at different developmental levels. Here's what they had...
Facilitating process-oriented learning with developmental level in mind: the just-right challenge
Photos Copyright Rebecca School Last week brought you some examples of process-oriented learning. This week, we continue with this topic. We heard Rae Leeper say that at the Rebecca School, this process looks different depending on the developmental level of the...
Process-oriented learning inspires relating, communicating, and thinking
Continuing with the back-to-school series this week is the topic of process-oriented and affinities-based learning. We heard Dave Nelson talk about how they use these approaches at Threshold Community Program with their students. Rae Leeper talked about this type of...
Thinking Goes to School
The last five blog posts have focused on schools applying the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model with their students. DIR/Floortime aims to target autism's core deficits of relating, communicating, and thinking. For the...
Applying the DIR Model in a Public School
Our back-to-school series continues with a podcast featuring Jackie Bartell, a retired Special Educator in the public school system in Rochester, New York, and DIR Expert Training Leader with the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL). We discuss...
Threshold Community Program: DIR for adolescents and young adults
Photos Copyright Threshold Community ProgramThis week's feature school is The Community School (Note that it is now called Threshold Community Program) in Decatur, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. It is unique in that its cohort is adolescents and young adults. I had...
Oakwood Academy: Canada’s only DIR school
Photos Copyright Oakwood Academy Continuing with our series on schools using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model, let's look at Oakwood Academy in Mississauga, Ontario. It's the only DIR-based school in Canada and features the...
This is 99% of Floortime
Photo Copyright CBC.ca Plastered through the news this past weekend was the story of a barber in Quebec who was called "an everyday hero" by the mother of a young, autistic client. This week, we take a hiatus from the back-to-school series of posts to bring you this...
The Rebecca School: Relationships are the Foundation of Learning
Photo Copyright Rebecca School This week we bring you another podcast! With our focus on schools that incorporate the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model, we spoke with the Educational Supervisor of the Rebecca School, Rae Leeper, who...
Soaring Eagle Academy: a unique Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based school
Photo Copyright Soaring Eagle Academy This week begins a feature of schools using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model in their education. We begin with the Soaring Eagle Academy, a non public therapeutic day school, in Lombard,...
Foundation Academics: What is it?
Justin Young With back to school season in full swing, what better time to discuss Foundation Academics! This week we speak with Dr. Gil Tippy, clinical director of the Rebecca School in Manhattan about the foundational capacities required before...
Developmental growth spurts: What to expect
Photo Copyright Affect Autism The last batch of posts have discussed development and the developmental approach. We've covered how development happens spontaneously and cannot be taught and how when the right conditions are in place, development happens. But what does...
A developmental approach overview with Dr. Ira Glovinsky
This week we'll try to solidify the content of the last couple of months with an overview of the Developmental Approach to autism spectrum disorders. We discuss the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model with our guest, Dr. Ira...
It’s only as good as the implementation
This post covers an important and essential piece of a developmental approach: it's only as good as its implementation. This can be said for many things in life: diets, educational interventions, training goals, travel plans, etc., but in a developmental approach...
Intention in a Developmental Approach
pan xiaozhen The last few posts have really covered an introduction to the Developmental Approach and Floortime. You had the blog about the importance of play, the Quickstart guide, 5 games to play in Floortime, 5 great Floortime books (plus a few...
Where is your focus?
What is the main difference between developmental approaches such as DIR/Floortime and behavioural interventions? I would say it's where you put your focus as a caregiver or practitioner. We put the focus on a child's development, rather than on his/her...
Five Great Floortime Books
Parents new to Floortime sometimes want reference books to learn from. This week I present to you five books that are going to give anyone a solid understanding and appreciation for the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model and what...
5 Games to Play with your Child in Floortime
Photo Copyright Affect Autism Floortime is not just about having fun with your child in play, it's about having fun together. It's the shared joy that will pull your child into a shared world. When you are sharing joy together in play, you can get very rich, emotional...
Floortime for First-Timers: A Quickstart Guide
Photo Copyright Affect Autism You are new to Floortime and want to know how to start. What is it? What do I do with my child? Here's a 10-step overview to get you started and on your way to having fun with your child in order to help his or her development. 1....
Play is the answer for healthy emotional development
Play is the cornerstone of Floortime. It is through play that parents and children can share joy. But play is also essential to healthy emotional development because it is through play that we can experiment with and work through our emotions. Play is...
Video blog: What does following the child’s lead really mean?
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, What does following the child’s lead really mean? The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format...
Video blog: Supporting Your Child While Encouraging Development
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Scaffolding in Floortime: Supporting your Child While Encouraging Development. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime...
Video blog: What is attunement in a developmental approach?
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, What is attunement in a developmental approach? The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for...
Video blog: Moving Up and Down the Developmental Ladder
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Moving Up and Down the Developmental Ladder, which included a Podcast with Dr. Gil Tippy. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of...
Video blog: Setting appropriate limits and expectations by respecting where your child is at, developmentally
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Setting appropriate limits and expectations by respecting where your child is at, developmentally. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of...
Video blog: Floortime in the car!
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents a new example of Floortime in the car with a link to the BLOG from last year's post, Floortime in the car! The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible...
Video blog: What an ideal DIR/Floortime program looks like
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, What an ideal DIR/Floortime program looks like. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for...
Video blog: DIR/Floortime as a comprehensive developmental approach
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, DIR/Floortime as a comprehensive developmental approach. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible...
Video blog: A Developmental Approach to Setting Limits
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, A Developmental Approach to Setting Limits. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for...
Building Floortime Families Parent Support Partnership with ICDL
Photo Copyright Affect Autism Affect Autism has the incredible opportunity to partner with the Interdisciplinary Council on Development and Learning (ICDL), the home of DIR/Floortime, in offering Parent Support to families, starting with a FREE parent introductory...
Video blog: Respecting the Emotional Experience and Expressions of the Child
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Respecting the Emotional Experience and Expressions of the Child. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible...
Video blog: Emotions (within safe relationships) are key to affecting autism
This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Emotions (within safe relationships) are key to affecting autism. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for parents and those new...
Video blog: Using Self-Reflection as a Tool in Floortime
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Using Self-Reflection as a Tool in Floortime. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for parents and...
Video blog: Slowing down and stretching out interactions
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Slowing down and stretching out interactions. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review the key concepts of DIR/Floortime in a more digestible format for...
Video blog: Helpful strategies for emotional and logical thinking
Cartoon obtained from Clipart Panda In the last few weeks, we've been trying to solidify your understanding of what DIR/Floortime is all about. Last week you saw a great example of a 20-minute Floortime session. You were also reminded of the useful book that offers...
Video blog: Floortime Strategies from the User’s Guide to the DIR Model
Photo Copyright Greenhouse Therapy Center This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Podcast with Dr. Andrea Davis about her User’s Guide to the DIR Model where you can find the Key Take-Aways PDF. The purpose of the VIDEO blog series is to review...
Video blog: Helpful strategies for symbolic understanding and creating ideas
Photo Copyright Affect Autism We've been reviewing each of the functional emotional developmental capacities (FEDCs) in this Stumbling blocks... series. We are now at the cusp of where a child breaks away from living in the concrete world and moves into the abstract...
Video blog: Helpful strategies for complex communication and shared problem-solving
Photo Copyright Affect Autism This week’s VIDEO presents highlights from the full BLOG post, Stumbling blocks in Floortime at FEDC 4: Helpful strategies for long chains of back-and-forth emotional signalling and shared problem-solving. The purpose of the...