What is DIR?

Pioneered by Drs. Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder, DIR stands for the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based approach.   It is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach that focuses on the emotional development of the child. It takes into account the child's feelings, relationships with caregivers, developmental level and individual differences in a child's ability to process and respond to sensory information.  It focuses on the child's skills in all developmental areas, including social-emotional functioning, communication, thinking and learning, motor skills, body awareness, and attention.

The goal of treatment is to help the child master the healthy emotional milestones that were missed in his early development and that are critical to learning.  Building these foundations helps children overcome their symptoms more effectively than simply trying to change the symptoms alone.