We chose play from Affect Autism

We develop within emotional relationships with our primary caregivers. This development progresses as a result of emotional exchanges between child and caregiver, or as Floortime calls them, "circles of communication." These affective reciprocal exchanges involve gestural and other nonverbal communication along with verbal communication. A continuous flow of back-and-forth signalling, or...

A lot of programs and workshops attempt to teach emotions to children, but all you can really teach a child is how to label emotions. To learn what an emotion is, you have to be able to actually experience the visceral feeling of the emotion. This is best done through Floortime where we share back-and-forth, affective interactions with our child and can label emotions in the moment, as they happen...

In order to facilitate our autistic or developmentally different child's growth using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model and Floortime approach, we respectfully and playfully challenge them to initiate interactions with us and expand on these interactions to strengthen this capacity. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and othe...

Jackie Bartell is back with us this episode for a fantastic discussion about a concept so essential to the  Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model  and  Floortime , and that is that we are human  beings  not human  doings . Jackie is a retired special educator with the International Council on Development and Learning ( ICDL ) and is a  DIRFloortime® Expert Training...

Virginia Spielmann from the Star Institute discusses the progression of cause and effect play in a child with developmental differences. Where it can seem to parents that the play is not progressing, Virginia walks through the many ways in which this play is evolving developmentally and how we can foster this development and growth through Floortime. Link to the full blog post with links to key di...

How and when visual aids can be helpful in a developmental approach with autistic children or children with developmental differences and/or motor planning challenges is discussed. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2018/03/26/visual-prompts/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network fo...

Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) Expert Training Leader and psychologist Dr. Kathy Platzman discusses the practice of blame around parenting children with developmental differences including autism. Parents blame themselves and others which can lead to a destructive loop. Rather, take control and work on what you can. She tells us how. Link to the show notes with li...

Those using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model for children with developmental differences, including autism, in a school-setting use process-oriented learning to inspire relating, communicating, and thinking in their students. This looks different depending on where the child is developmentally. Julia Feltus from the Rebecca School in Manhattan walks us thr...

Those using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model for children with developmental differences, including autism, in a school-setting use process-oriented and affinities-based learning to inspire thinking in their students. Presented are examples of this from Dr. Gil Tippy of the Rebecca School in Manhattan, and Dave Nelson from Threshold Community Program (form...

With our focus on schools that incorporate the  Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model , we spoke with the Educational Supervisor of the  Rebecca School ,  Rae Leeper , who has worked at the School since it opened in 2006. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2017/10/...

Foundation Academics for children with developmental differences, including autism, refers to strengthening the early functional emotional developmental capacities (FEDCs) that most neurotypical children master by about 48 months old. Without having these foundational developmental capacities for learning, attempts at traditional academics can be memory-based rather than thinking-based. Link to th...