Floor Time Techniques and the DIR Model

These videotapes were made to demonstrate a very important component of working with children and families where there are developmental and learning challenges. This vital component relates to the way in which children interact spontaneously with their parents, and parents attempt to tailor their interactions to their children's unique capacities. It is within the caregiver and child interaction that a great deal of learning occurs. These training videotapes illustrate how to observe the richness and detail of these interactions as well as how to facilitate them to mobilize growth. Specifically, the training videotapes demonstrate the DIR model and how to use observation of spontaneous parent infant/child interaction during Floor Time to assess the child's functional developmental capacities, motor and sensory processing (regulatory) profile, and interactive patterns with caregivers. They provide an unusual opportunity to observe children with special needs who have a range of abilities and capacities for change as they interact with their caregivers in a naturalistic context.