The DIR/Floortime Model helps children and families with special needs to “build healthy foundations for social, emotional and intellectual capacities”.
The DIR/Floortime model helps your child through six stages of development, progressively building a strong foundation for social interaction.
About DIR®/Floortime™
Build a Strong Foundation
The DIR/Floortime Model helps children and families with special needs to “build healthy foundations for social, emotional and intellectual capacities”. Floortime is a specific technique to both follow the child’s natural emotional interests and at the same time challenge the child to a greater mastery of each developmental level and movement to higher ones.
The 6 levels assist the child to:
- Self-regulate and learn how to attend and remain calm
- Form relationships with others with engagement and attachment to others
- Initiate and respond to all types of communication, beginning with emotional and social gestures
- Engage in shared social problem-solving involving many interactions in a row
- Use ideas to communicate needs and think and play creatively
- Mix ideas together to think logically to enjoy peer relationships and master academic skills
How It Works
D
Developmental
The D (Developmental) part of the model is made up of 6 levels. DIR recognizes six stages of development and works to mobilize the child’s emerging developmental capacities while recognizing that emotional-relational or affective interactions harness and propel a child’s interest, motivation and spontaneity.
I
Individual Differences
The I (Individual Differences) part of the Model describes the unique biologically based ways each child takes in, responds to and comprehends sensations such as sound, touch, as well as plans and sequences actions and ideas.
R
Relationship-Based
The R (Relationship-Based) part of the Model describes the learning relationships (with caregivers, educators, peers, etc.) that are tailored to the child’s individual differences and developmental level to enable progress in mastering these essential foundations.
In helping to resolve developmental issues, affect and dynamic relationships become the fuel that drives and intensifies the motivation behind any learning process. The result: learning is propelled naturally and spontaneously, sparking a love and excitement of being related to others and investigating with security the world around them. This leads to an excitement and intrigue for problem solving. Learning becomes self-initiated, and spontaneous pursuit of relationships and learning challenges becomes self-motivated.
Our therapists at Totaly Sense-Sational work with parents to construct a program tailored to the child’s uniqueness. We emphasize the critical role of parents (and other family members and support staff) because of the importance of their emotional relationships with the child. Our treatment approach also often includes additional sensory-motor and speech-language programs. At this time, all of our DIR/Floortime therapy is done on site although there are times warranted when a therapist may do one home visit to assess, educate and establish a program for the family.
Scheduling a Free Screening
If you are not sure if you or your child needs OT services and want to get an idea if OT and Sensory Integration are right for you, fill out the form below to learn more about our therapies and group sessions or to schedule an appointment with your child.