What are the components of a DIR/Floortime program?

Children with special needs usually have processing differences that make it more difficult for them to master the foundations for relating, communicating and thinking that come relatively effortlessly to children without special needs.  Therefore, a comprehensive treatment program needs to provide intensive opportunities to practice these skills.  Components of a DIR/Floortime program include:

• Parents do Floortime with their child, creating the kinds of interactive experiences that help the child master the developmental milestones.

• Professionals, such as speech, occupational, and physical therapists, special educators and psychotherapists, work with the child using techniques informed by DIR/Floortime principles to deal with the child’s specific challenges and facilitate development.

• Parents work on their own responses and styles of relating to their child with regard to the different developmental milestones in order to tailor their interactions with their child in a way that optimally supports emotional and intellectual growth.