The Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based model is a multi-faceted approach for children with autism.
In the 1980s, Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Weider looked at the autistic population and noticed their strengths, in addition to the need for a new approach to building social relationships and engagement. DIR looks at a child’s development according to Dr. Greenspan’s Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities, which reflect predictable development across the lifespan.
Dr. Stanley Greenspan is also the founder of the International Council on Development and Learning, also known as ICDL, formed in 1990. ICDL continues to train professionals, coach parents as well as provide a variety of programs to promote understanding and education for parents and professionals.
Kinder Growth is a company that has been developed with the support of ICDL. We are a DIR Accredited company and continue to follow all the guidelines and updates created by ICDL. We aim to bring the benefits of floortime to the home environment, the child’s most secure environment.
The therapist gets down on the floor to play and interact with the child over the child’s interests of activities. During these sessions, the therapist helps support the child’s regulation while climbing up the developmental ladder, to create more joyful and positive experiences for the child.
When we delve into DIRFloortime we see that it’s not so hard! DIRFloortime can be done anywhere at any time, and all day every day.
Check out this great introductory video to Floortime from Dr Stanley Greenspan
Floortime takes place in a calm, familiar environment. The child’s home is often the most ideal for Floortime therapy. During a session, the therapist joins in the child’s activities and follows the child’s interest and ideas. The parent or provider then engages the child in increasingly complex interactions. Sessions emphasize back-and-forth play. This helps build the foundation for shared attention, as well as engagement and problem solving.
Floortime has gained in popularity, largely due to its success. There have now been many independent studies performed that have had very positive results supporting the effectiveness of floortime therapy. Additional research can be seen here.
DIR stands for Developmental, Individual Differences and Relationship-Based.
Understanding where your child is developmentally will help you identify what areas need to be targeted. The Floortime approach has 9 Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities. The goal is to identify what Capacity your child is functioning at and which capacities require support. We aim to “fill in the gaps”. Using this information, we strengthen the current capacity to lead them to the next capacity. This is done through relationships and play.
This refers to identiying a child’s unique way of processing the world. We think about their sensory differences, their individual strengths and abilities.
Understanding where your child is developmentally will help you identify what areas need to be targeted. The Floortime approach has 9 Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities. The goal is to identify what Capacity your child is functioning at and which capacities require support. We aim to “fill in the gaps”. Using this information, we strengthen the current capacity to lead them to the next capacity. This is done through relationships and play.
Stephanie Peters OTR/L DIRFloortime Expert Training Leader
Clinical Director
Stephanie Peters MS, OTR/L is Kinder Growth Therapy’s Clinical Director and an occupational therapist who hopes to cultivate a joyful experience that helps empower families to realize their greatest potential. After graduating from Sacred Heart University in 2012 with her Masters of Science in Occupational Therapy, she has achieved her certification as a DIR/Floortime Expert Training Leader with ICDL and is certified in the evaluation and treatment of Sensory Processing Disorder by the Sensory Treatment and Research Institute. She has co-authored the article, “Combining DIR/Floortime and Sensory Integration for Children with ASD” which has been published by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Stephanie has experience in a variety of pediatric settings and populations including parent coaching, Early Intervention, brain injury and cognitive rehabilitation, school based therapy, aquatic therapy and outpatient practices.
Sari Levin MsED DIRFloortime Advanced Certification
Director
Sari is the Director at Kinder Growth. As the Director, Sari oversees family and therapist relationships as well as provides parent training and support to our families. Sari’s wide range of experiences with the Autistic population has fostered her love for the work that she does.
As a child, Sari always had a passion for engaging and building relationships with the neurodivergent population. Throughout her school years, she supervised different programs to support children with special needs and their families. Sari continued on to receive a Masters in Special Education in Early and Middle Childhood through Daemen College in New York. After multiple years of teaching in the “School for Children with Hidden Intelligence “, Sari found her love for DIRFloortime. Sari has been trained through the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) and is an Advanced DIRFloortime coach. She continues to follow her passion for DIRFloortime through working with children and supporting their families.
Meghan Gorman MsED DIRFloortime Expert Training Leader
Clinical Manager
Meghan Gorman is a clinical Manager at Kinder Growth. As Clinical Manager, Meghan supports Floortime players and families on a weekly basis to provide coaching, feedback and support, collaborating throughout this DIRFloortime journey. Meghan is a friendly and passionate person who truly enjoys supporting, listening to, and learning from co-workers and the families she works with each day. She thoroughly enjoys hearing from families about their children’s growth through this play-based developmental approach.
Meghan began volunteering at a summer camp as a teenager, which fostered her passion for working with neurodivergent individuals. She went on to work at Rebecca School in Manhattan where she first learned about DIRFloortime, and there she worked as a Special Education Teacher. She often collaborated with the social worker to support and build relationships with the families, helping to bridge the gap from home and school. She completed her Masters Degree in General and Special Education from CUNY Hunter College. In addition, Meghan has been trained through the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) and is an Expert Level DIRFloortime Coach. She is excited to continue this journey through supporting children and building relationships with their families.
Melanie Feller M.A., CCC-SLP, IMH-E, DIRFloortime Expert Training Leader
Clinical Supervisor
Melanie Feller, M.A., CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert, IMH-E is a clinical supervisor at Kinder Growth, a pediatric speech pathologist, an expert level DIRFloortime practitioner/training leader, and the first speech pathologist in New Jersey endorsed as an infant mental health specialist. She has extensive experience providing evaluations, parent coaching, therapeutic intervention and clinical supervision in home and school-based settings. Melanie specializes in supporting children who have communication challenges related to social-emotional differences (including Autism) and children from 0-3 with language delays and disorders. Her focus is on empowering families and providing them with the tools they need to help their child continue to succeed!.
Kathy Flentge OTR/L DIRFloortime Advanced Certification
Clinical Supervisor
Kathy OTR/L is a clinical supervisor at Kinder Growth and has practiced DIRFloortime for more than half of her career. Along with treatment experience, she teaches and supports various professionals through clinical supervision, helping others understand how ones’ body, sensory processing abilities, regulation, and behavior interact. As Kathy has “played with a purpose” for years, she delights in helping parents and therapists understand the children in their lives, and feel more connected in their relationships. As a mom of two girls, she brings parent perspective and practicality to her work, and recognizes the transforming power a parent has in supporting growth and depth of development through riding the waves of emotions hand in hand.
Alicia Bustos M.S, CCC-SLP, TSHH, BE, DIRFloortime Advanced Certification
Clinical Supervisor
Alicia Bustos MS, CCC-SLP, TSHH, is a clinical supervisor at Kinder Growth. Originally from Argentina, Alicia received her Master’s degree in Speech and Language Pathology from the State University of New York. Alicia has served Spanish-speaking families in New York City for over 15 years, specializing in supporting the neurodivergent pediatric population in relating and communicating. Alicia has published research papers about the Early Intervention of Language and Communication Disorders and conducted research on Dyslexia in Bilingual Students. With extensive clinical experience in supporting children with autism, she received her Advanced DIRFloortime certification to coach families from the International Council of Development and Learning (ICDL)..
