DIR Floortime™
Children develop many skills but may struggle to apply the skills meaningfully. Children may learn to play but struggle to engage in back-and-forth interactions. Children may learn to talk but struggle to share their experiences. At Connect and Communicate, we specialise in approaches that promote integrated learning through play and relationships. In this way, we support holistic development and ensure a solid foundation for all social, emotional and academic learning.
Developmental
this part of the model describes critical role of social-emotional development starting at birth and continuing throughout the lifespan. The individual’s capacity to do the following are building blocks to development:
- Build bridges between ideas in logical ways
- Remain calm and regulated
- Engage and relate to others
- Initiate and respond to verbal and non-verbal communication
- Engage in shared problem-solving and intentional behaviours
- Use ideas to play creatively
- Attend to others
- Think in multi-causal, abstract and reflective ways
Individual Differences
this part of the model provides a framework for understanding
how each individual has unique biologically-based ways he/she takes in, regulates,
comprehends and responds to sensations (e.g., touch and sound).
He/she will also plan and
sequence actions and ideas differently. When we understand how each person individually
perceives and interacts with the world differently, we can be better informed to ‘reach
them to teach them’.
Relationship
the model also highlights the power of relationships and emotional connections to fuel development. As caregivers, educators, therapists and peers, we have to tailor our interactions to teach the individual in ways they may learn better and faster.
DIR® is the philosophy while Floortime™ is the approach. Floortime™is a technique to follow the child’s natural interests, and at the same time challenge the child towards greater capacities. “Floortime” is not simply getting on the floor and playing with children. Instead, it is about meeting the individual where they are, in their needs, interests and capacities. It is not about their “diagnosis”, but truly develops “who they are”.
He/she will also plan and sequence actions and ideas differently. When we understand how each person individually perceives and interacts with the world differently, we can be better informed to ‘reach them to teach them’.
- Become more focused and regulated
- Become more flexible
- Be more tolerant to frustrating and unpleasant situations
- Plan and execute longer sequences of actions
- Take more initiative
- Improve problem solving skills
- Communicate with both non-verbal (e.g., eye-gaze, gestures) and words
- Take pleasure in learning
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Social Thinking®
At Connect and Communicate, we go beyond teaching individuals social skills. We teach them social thinking. This is the ability to understand people and situations – thoughts, feelings, hidden intentions and expectations. Good social understanding is what helps us respond in appropriate ways (i.e. good social skills). People may have good language skills but lack social understanding.
Social thinking begins in early childhood with children understanding fairytales and navigating playgrounds. Social thinking also enables the student to engage in groupwork in a classroom or play with peers. Social thinking helps working adults negotiate conflict as well as respond to emails in a savvy manner. Social thinking is a process and a stronger lesson that can be applied across all settings over the lifespan.
Click here to find out about the social thinking methodology.
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The program is recommended for individuals with social learning challenges. Some may have a diagnosis such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorder, social communication disorders or social anxiety. Social Thinking® has been adopted into mainstream classrooms all around the world to support socio-emotional learning (SEL) among the wider population. Social thinking is something we all engage in all the time and we don’t know we’re doing it. In Social Thinking, we teach what we do implicitly in explicit ways.
Individuals may be placed into groups upon recommendation of their therapist and availability of a suitable group.
*You can find more Social Thinking resources at our bookshop
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Hanen Approach & Programs
Children do not develop in isolation. At Connect and Communicate, we believe that nurture shapes nature. Sensitive, responsive caregiving is integral to a child’s development. Caregivers play a pivotal role in their child’s learning. This includes both people at home and at school. Hanen offers a multitude of caregiver training programs for children aged 0 to 7 years.
Click here to learn tips for parents.
More Than Words® Program
was designed for parents of children between 0 and 5 years who have social communication challenges, including those on the Autism Spectrum. It aims to help parents better understand the different ways their child communicates and also provide practical strategies to improve the child’s interaction and communication, play and imitation skills. This is facilitated through empowering parents to turn everyday routines and activities into learning opportunities, as well as adjusting the way they respond / talk to their child in order to enhance their language learning.
TalkAbility™ Program
was designed for parents of children between 3 and 7 years who are verbal but continue to present with social communication challenges, including those with high-functioning autism. It aims to teach parents practical ways to use their child’s unique interests to build important “people skills” that are essential for making friends. These include paying attention to non-verbal cues to determine others’ thoughts and feelings, consider different points of view, carrying on conversations and playing imaginatively.
It Takes Two to Talk® Program
was designed for parents of children between 0 and 5 years who have been identified as having a language delay. It aims to guide parents to refocus their current communication style to foster their child’s confidence and language, while also equipping parents with practical strategies to build their child’s language skills naturally during everyday routines and activities. These strategies tap on the child’s current interests and strengths to encourage more interaction and language learning.
In addition, the following Hanen programs have also been used in our therapy:
Click here for more information on the different Hanen Programs.
Click here to learn How Hanen helps different diagnoses.
Parents are the required to attend weekly small group sessions with other parents that are focused on sharing of strategies. These are complemented by individual clinic visits with the child to review parents’ application of the strategies as well as the child’s progress. This is carried out through video feedback and discussions, which helps to identify what is working and discuss further action moving forward.
You can find more information on upcoming workshops here.
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