Matt Carter For both parents and practitioners, it can be hard to make sense of psychological research. This is especially true for research on applied behavior analysis, which is often known simply as ABA, and its effectiveness for helping children diagnosed with autism, which is often abbreviated as ASD for autistic spectrum disorder. The reason for this … Read more
Can children on the autism spectrum play pretend? Does autism make kids unable to pretend play? Some people think so. Some believe that ASD diagnosed children are incapable of pretend play. Dr. Stanley Greenspan certainly didn’t think so. In fact, the Greenspan Floortime model includes informed and effective play psychotherapy as a key aspect of … Read more
Children on the autism spectrum with sensory sensitivities close off their potential ability for expressive action and meaningful language as they deal with this perceived onslaught of the sensory environment around them and the chaos of their inner world. But, and this should give hope to parents of children with autism, they can and have … Read more
The model was devised so that parents could apply its principles in the home. Dr. Karen Zelan In her book review of Dr. Greenspan’s book Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think, Dr. Karen Zelan says the following: The authors devote several chapters explaining to parents how the Floortime … Read more
An educational approach needs to teach students how to learn, think, and motivate themselves so that they can understand complex material and accomplish physical tasks. Introduction All people have a right to education, including people with disabilities. Some children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have significant challenges in their educational path, including additional cognitive delays … Read more
The core symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder are all addressed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s Floortime Approach. The three components of Dr. Greenspan’s Floortime Approach–a capacity for intimacy, an ability to communicate expressively, and the capacity for meaningful speech–address these missing or underdeveloped abilities of children with autism. Each of these three missing or underdeveloped functional … Read more
Child development scholars Rubina Lal and Rakhee Chhabria, in their chapter “Early Intervention of Autism: A Case for the Floortime Approach,” conclude with the following advice to parents: Early intervention is very important for enhancing the development of infants and toddlers with disabilities, and they are especially crucial in determining the future language, social and … Read more
During the month of April, to celebrate Autism Awareness Month, The Floortime Center will be honoring Dr. Stanley Greenspan’s work on autism and Floortime. We will review peer-reviewed scientific studies and put them into language accessible to parents of children, teens and adults with autism spectrum disorder.
Where do children develop their social skills? This is a question you may not have deeply considered before. There seems to be a common misconception that schools are responsible for this development and that is simply not true. Social skills are established and developed at home with parents or caregivers within the child’s first few years of life. Schools should be used as a place to practice the skills that had previously been developed at home.
A misconception about Floortime is that it is highly “unstructured”. People mistakenly think that Floortime lets kids do whatever they want; there are no boundaries, expectations, or challenges. If you have learned and practiced The Greenspan Floortime Approach®, you know this is false. The Greenspan Floortime Approach® is a flexible, child-centered intervention that … Read more
