Katie Berlin MS OTR/L, occupational therapist at Child and Family Development- Pineville, recently completed attended an introductory level online course about the Stanley Greenspan DIR Floortime® approach from ICDL.
According to the DIR Floortime® website, DIR is the Developmental, Individual-differences, & Relationship-based model that has become the foundation for understanding child development and providing support and intervention that helps children reach their fullest potential. The DIR® model is a framework that helps therapists, parents and educators conduct comprehensive assessments and develop educational and/or intervention programs tailored to the unique challenges and strengths of each child.
Kati shares that the approach is focused on bolstering foundational skills in cognition, language, social and emotional skills. Typically, it is used with children on the autism spectrum, but can also be used with other children with decreased emotional regulation and social skill difficulties. The course has greatly impacted her perspective on development of social skills and self regulation. It has also altered the way that she might plan and implement treatment with occupational therapy clients who present with significant functional deficits. Now, her focus is on engagement, imitation, and social reciprocity, rather than skill acquisition.
She encourages families and colleagues to learn more from their free parent education course here.
Read more about our pediatric occupational therapy services, here.
