The DIR®/Floortime™ Model is based on new insights into the development of the mind which have made it possible to help children and families with special needs to build healthy foundations for social, emotional, and intellectual capacities rather than focusing on isolated behaviors. The DIR®/Floortime™ Model is a framework to assist parents and professionals in constructing a comprehensive program that focuses on improving the child’s functioning in all the developmental capacities where there are challenges, and, at the same time, promote healthy overall emotional and intellectual functioning.  The framework typically involves many elements and a team of professionals. 

The D (Developmental) part of the Model describes each step in building these capacities. It includes helping a child learn how to attend and remain calm, relate to others, initiate and respond to all types of communication, beginning with emotional and social gestures, engage in shared social problem-solving involving many interactions in a row, using ideas to communicate needs and think and play creatively, and mix ideas together to think logically at successive levels of complexity to enjoy peer relationships and master academic skills. The I (Individual differences) part of the Model describes the unique biologicallybased ways each child takes in, responds to, and comprehends sensations such as sound and touch, and plans and sequences actions and ideas. Some children, for example, are very hyper responsive to touch and sound, while others are under-reactive, and still others seek out these sensations. The R (Relationship-based) part of the Model describes the learning relationships (with caregivers, educators, peers, etc.) that are tailored to the child’s individual differences and developmental level to enable progress in mastering these essential foundations.

Central to the DIR®/Floortime™ Model is the role of the child’s natural emotions and interests which has been shown to be essential for learning interactions that enable the different parts of the mind and brain to work together and to build successively higher levels of social, emotional, and intellectual capacities. Floortime™ is a specific technique to both follow the child’s natural emotional interests and at the same time challenge the child toward greater mastery of each developmental level and movement to higher ones. As indicated above, the DIR®/Floortime™ Model, however, is a comprehensive framework which enables clinicians and parents to construct a program tailored to the child’s unique challenges and strengths. It often includes, in addition to Floortime™, various problem-solving exercises and typically involves a team approach with speech therapy, occupational therapy, educational programs, and, where appropriate, biomedical intervention. The DIR®/Floortime™ Model also emphasizes the critical role of parents and other family members because of the importance of their emotional relationships with the child. A program for a specific child will often involve parents and other key caregivers creating learning interactions with the child (including Floortime™, semi-structured problem-solving, speech and language programs, and motor and sensory programs) for a number of hours a day.