DIR Model – An Approach To Build Healthy Foundations For Children With Special Needs


“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.



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