DIR (Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based)
Floor time Model

The DIR (Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based) Floor time model was developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. It is a developmental model which focuses on fostering children's overall growth by strengthening relationship(s). Each letter represents a crucial point represented in this model. “D” stands for Developmental ; it is important to first assess the developmental milestones achieved by each child. “I” represents Individual –Difference ; each child is an individual (not all children receive information and communicate in the same manner). “R” stands for Relationship-Based --the main component of this model as learning occurs by forming and strengthening relationships.

The DIR Model outlines 6 Milestones of Development:

1. Self Regulation and Interest in the World: During this stage the manner in which infants modulate and process sensations is an important contributor. Children may be either hypersensitive (too easily stimulated) or hyposensitive (need a lot of sensory input to be stimulated). Children's sensitivities may vary with each sense (touch, smell, and hearing) or from day to day (sometimes hyposensitive other times hypersensitive).

2. Intimacy: At this stage children start to recognize sounds and sources of speech. They begin to scan the world for familiar faces, objects and pay attention for 30 seconds or more. This ability to be intimate forms the basis of all future relationships and cements motor, cognitive & language skills.

3. Two-Way Communication: The child first realizes his actions cause others reactions during this phase. This is the beginning of gestural dialogues which leads to the opening and closing of circles of communication. The experiences of two-way communication help children form a basic sense of intentionality. This leads to learning fundamental emotional, cognitive and motor lessons

4. Complex Communication: In this stage the child starts to link gestures into complicated responses. The number and complexity of circles closed begins to increase. Growing gestural dialogues become preludes to speech. The child develops the ability to create complex gestures and to string together a series of actions into an elaborate and deliberate problem solving sequence. This growth in expressiveness and complex gestures also increases creativity.

5. Emotional Ideas: During this stage the child learns that symbols represent things and that each symbol is an idea, an abstraction of the concrete thing, activity or emotion with which the world is concerned. Thus, the ability to create ideas begins which eventually leads in to pretend play. The more the child experiments with pretend play the more comfortable he becomes with the world of ideas

6. Emotional Thinking: The child begins to express feelings using words instead of actions at this stage. The cause of their feelings becomes linked to specific actions or events, (I am happy because I am playing with mommy.) These links between feelings and actions help the child to predict and think about future occurrences. The child also starts to build bridges between play and link them into logical sequences. The child starts to understand the emerging concepts of space and time in a personal and emotional way. There is an increase in verbal communication and problem solving skills at this time.

Where to Start?

There are many developmental checklists which can help identify a child's current developmental level. Below is a list of developmental milestones which can help identify if a child is developing within age expectancies. Parent observations and knowledge of their child can be the best place to start. A parent should ask questions related to each milestone of development. The starting place will depend upon each individual child and their abilities to process information and communicate effectively.

Developmental Milestones

Parents should consider their child's development within a hierarchy of milestones. The following six milestones provide a reference point to compare your child's development with age-appropriate expectations:

•  By 3 months, the infant learns to focus, to attend, and to calm himself. Ask yourself: Does my baby usually show interest in things around him by looking at sights and turning toward sounds?

•  By 5 months, the baby engages in budding relationships with warmth and trust. Ask yourself: Does my baby seem happy or pleased to see you or other familiar people? Is the baby looking and smiling, making sounds or some other gesture, such as moving arms, that indicates pleasure or delight?

•  By 9 months, purposeful interaction emerges with a variety of emotional gestures and facial expressions, as well as pointing at or showing things. Ask yourself: Is my baby able to show what she wants by reaching for or pointing at something, reaching out to be picked up, or making purposeful noises?

•  By 14 to 18 months, a child can organize a series of interactions and problem solve through social means. Ask yourself: Can my child take me to the toy area and point to the toy he wants?

•  By 24 to 30 months, the child should be able to use ideas in imaginative ways including pretend-play; express needs, wants, and desires; and negotiate a little bit. Ask yourself: Can my toddler respond to people talking or playing with him by using words or sequences of sounds that are clearly meant to convey a word? Is my toddler able to imitate familiar actions, such as feeding or hugging a doll? Is my toddler able to follow simple, one-step directions to meet a basic need, such as "take the banana on the table"?

•  By 24 to 48 months, the child should be able to build bridges between ideas, combining them in a logical way. Ask yourself: Can my child answer the question "What do you want?" Can he engage in pretend play with another person in which the sequence of events makes sense? Can he begin to describe wishes and needs?

Has your child achieved mastery of these six core essentials—at home and outside of the home? (If your child is 3 or older, mastery of all six milestones is expected; if he's between 2 and 3, the first five milestones are expected.)

The Floor time Foundation This site has information about the founders of Floor time, Autism, the Floor time approach, Biological challenges, and a glossary of terms http://www.floortime.org/

Stanley Greenspan This site offers information about Stanley Greenspan, his books, articles, papers, and videos. http://www.stanleygreenspan.com/

Play works
This site offers information about DIR/Floor time, recommended reading, websites, and articles http://www.playworks.cc/DIRmodel.html