Archive for 2015

When I started my carrier, I haven’t heard about ‘floor therapy’. For me, like most others, “floor” was only a simple surface which witnesses continuous foot traffic all day long. From a dirty walking surface of caves to many layered and imported stone-wood-metal-concrete floors, today's floors are varied and offer advanced features with the help of modern technology. That was all I knew. As I began working in the Autism field, my research introduced me to the intriguing work of Dr. Stanley Greenspan, and specifically the Floortime Approach. It never crossed my mind that a floor can be a source of rejuvenation, repose and relaxation. That it could bring back tranquility to many individuals.

It’s fascinating how babies enjoy their time on the floor, exploring their own world. On the contrary, as adults we are so busy with juggling our social and professional lives, that we have lost the magic and joy of play time. We hardly have any time to get down on the floor and play with our kids. Being a counsellor, I have come across many unsettling beliefs and opinions that adults hold when it comes to the value of such activities. Parents who discover that their child suffers from neurodevelopmental delays are often baffled with the many studies and researches available on this condition on the web and beyond. Many of those studies question the effectiveness of floor time therapy. How can floor time help them understand their child? How can playing on the floor help their child in terms of achieving developmental goals? To an extent, it’s not their fault because in today’s world we tend to focus on the end result of any given process, rather than on “the journey”. So much, that we have forgotten that there is a ‘process’ on the way to the “result”.

As a counselor my role is to suggest therapies, developmental pediatricians, neurologists and most importantly schools to my clients that will help their child understand and meet his/her unique needs. My preference has always been a school that follows the DIR model, such as the Rebecca School in New York City. Following Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s floor therapy, schools that follow this model encourage educators and parents to follow their child into his/her world. Instead of instructing children that they will be doing one exercise followed by another activity, the faculty at institutions that follow this model pay attention and understand the behavioral pattern of each individual child. They communicate with them, obstruct them playfully and persuade them towards their goal.

Every time I visit schools that follow the DIR Model (Such as Rebecca school) I am left spellbound by the unparalleled enthusiasm and positivity of the therapists, trainers and special educators. The vibrancy of both the parents and the children participating in floor time therapy activities is always very inspiring for me to witness. Floortime therapy is not just an another approach developed to help children with autism but a model that offers long lasting benefits that go beyond a regular day at school.

Before signing off, I would like you to have a look at this awe-inspiring video of Katy Perry performing live with 11 year old Jodi who is fighting autism. And always remember that beliefs hold weight only when you decide that they are true. Believe that your child can pursue any dream, breaking off all the barriers of neurodevelopmental disorders along the way.

Each in his own opinion

Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right,

And all were in the wrong!

These lines from John Godfrey’s poem apply to our understanding of autism as well. In relation to Autism, the interpretation and attribution are inextricable in a way because there is much more to it than science. For a child with autism, their condition is not a disease or illness but a long term symbiosis rather than a temporary alliance. They have their own perspective of doing things that can change the way we ourselves see and do things. Autism brings to life fresh insights and a perspective that offer us a new way of looking at, and interacting with certain life situations.

In many cases, autism is diagnosed on the basis of certain behavioral patterns like issues related to socializing and bonding with others. We all have a natural – intellectual gift. We can figure out what other people may be thinking on the basis of different cues that we pick up from their actions and body language. Children with autism have problems with these types of intellectual abilities that may lead to difficulties they face in forming social relationships and bonding.

Autism schools provide tailored programs for children with neurodevelopment disorders that focus on the variations in individual motor and sensory processing systems. When educators, trainers and parents work together to deal with students with ASD, the children can develop a remarkable sense of resiliency and, over time, develop tools and strategies that can help them in dealing with others.

The main challenge that educators and trainers at any autism school in NYC have to face is to develop a sense of affinity among the children with neurodevelopment disorders. Through an individualized training plan an educator can help them relate to their friends, family and teachers with meaningful and emotional words and gestures. To nurture children’s social and academic growth, it is important to work on their weakness and difficulties rather than focusing only on strengths.

When adapting this type of approach, we can all free ourselves from the bars of narrow-mindedness and offer these children ways to further their personal development.

“The job of schools should be to help children relate to others in a meaningful way, use language and ideas creatively, and become abstract and creative thinkers, as well as master academic subjects.”

- Stanley Greenspan, Developer of DIR/Floortime Model

Every child deserves to be understood from a developmental perspective in order to elicit the individual strengths and vulnerabilities of the child and their family. Developmental interventions not only help to invent the child’s unique personality, but it also help in establishment of relationships.

At Rebecca School for children with special needs, the staff's primary focus is on developing the child's strengths and needs. In support of that, the school follows the ‘Developmental, Individual – Difference, Relationship based approach (DIR Approach)’, providing support and intervention to every child, helping them reach their fullest potential.

The objectives of DIR model are not limited to skills or isolated behavior, but also to build healthy foundations for social, emotional, and intellectual capacities.

Explaining DIR with our point-of-view -

Development - There are six developmental levels in DIR model. Following each, the model helps children –

· Develop capacities to remain calm and regulated

· To initiate and respond to all types of communication

· To engage in shared social problem solving and intentional behavior -to be able to build bridges between ideas in logical ways.

This way, we can help children in spontaneous and empathic relationships as well as to master the academic skills.

Individual Differences - Our next target is to focus on the ‘Biological Challenges’. Biological challenges, are the processing issues that may be interfering with the child’s ability to grow and learn. Like –

· How a child takes in, responds to, and comprehends sensations such as sound, touch.

· Struggle in the planning and sequencing of actions and ideas.

Relationship based - Relationships are an important component of a healthy life; we experience life through shared experiences. But for children with autism, understanding of relationships could be a problem. At Rebecca School, teachers help children explore relationships with their caregivers, family, and peers so that they can master the essential foundations of their life.

Above mentioned milestones can only be achieved if parents and caregivers participate in Floor time approach. As the name suggests, Floor time approach is all about playing on the floor. Yeah, you heard it right. The idea is to promote a child’s ability to think critically about their world, and the Floor time approach is the key to that goal. This approach includes 1:1 teacher interactions as well as small and large classroom activities. This approach helps caregivers to incorporate the intervention strategies into play-based interactions.

A mother sits around her child, but doesn’t get acknowledged. She hugs the kid, but the kid responds by running away and flapping the hands. Well, the child could be autistic. An autistic child's behaviour may seem to be “out of the world” for a non-professional observer.

Autism is a common developmental disability affecting the social and communication skills of an individual. It is much more common than one might think. There are several special needs schools in NYC that can help children cope with their developmental growth by employing several therapeutic techniques. The DIR/Floortime method is one such interdisciplinary and comprehensive approach that assumes emotions of children to be the foundation of their holistic development.

Floortime Therapy is the practical component of this child-centered approach and is adopted by several special needs schools in NYC. It helps children learn and develop through the application of several insights outlined by the developer of the approach, Dr. Stanley Greenspan.

These insights are:

Emotions and relationships are the foundations of the growth of a child’s mind.

Interactions encourage special needs children to invest their interest and emotions in the world around them. These interactions lead to a child’s learning and cognitive development. According to Dr. Greenspan, every word in our language need to be experienced in order to be understood. A child must not rely on theoretical concepts, but rather experience the practical implementation of a word as well.

Each and every child has unique processing abilities.

Children with ASD process sounds, languages, and space around them differently. The processing includes motor planning, sequencing abilities, and sensory modulation of incoming stimuli. Children with autism may have issues with understanding ideas such as how space is organized in the form of walls of the room. The motor planning and sequencing abilities are the reasons behind certain behavior issues of children such as piling up things in a certain manner, for example.

Some children with ASD are likely to be more hypersensitive to certain stimuli, whereas some are under sensitive. It is important to accommodate the environment to suit the special needs of the children and familiarize them with environmental stimuli.

The Developmental Capacities of a Child

The varying aspects of motor development, language development, and cognitive development integrate into the overall functional development of a child. Observing and assessing this development help foster the acquisition of concepts, ideas, and skills through an emotion-based learning.

Floortime Therapy was developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and is considered by many to be a revolutionary approach to dealing with ASD. This approach allows certain special needs schools in NYC help autistic children reach developmental milestones crucial to their social, economic, and academic development.

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