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Hello,
I have a few extra minutes today...this institute is hard work...from 7:50 AM to 10:00 PM! I have many thoughts but will summarize a few here:
1. I've asked the question, "When do you stop Floortime?" and the question has been pushed aside. The speakers say there is no age too early, and no age too old. I've seen videos with Floortime with 6 month old babies. But, I have not seen videos with 15 or 20 year olds at home. On Saturday, I think, there will be a presentation of a DIR school with an 18 year old. Why am I concerned about stopping Floortime? Because with kids in school, who get in-school services, it takes time away from their academics...and the school day is short enough. And I am doing home services with 14 year olds in middle school, and I think they need to be in a group with other kids...and I do not have other teenage boys in my back pocket. So the context for the services is really important.
2. I have met other providers who use DIR/Floortime as therapy in their counseling practices, seeing kids once or twice a week. That is similar to my situation, of seeing kids a few times a week. But the research is based on DIR/Floortime 8 times/day at home with parents with young children...where is the research on twice/once a week?
3. Techniques: I've been looking for a series of techniques, and I've learned that it is all up to the individual. That's fine, but where is the treatment fidelity? How do I know that what I do is similar to what others do? How can there be research on DIR/Floortime with multiple providers when we most likely each do it differently?
4. What I like about DIR/Floortime: I like the emphasis on relationships with kids and having fun. I believe firmly that teachers/providers need to be in a relationship with the kids, and that this is hard for being with children on the spectrum. I'd like to be able to define 'relationship' better. And having fun: this is the essence of childhood, and it seems to be something that children on the spectrum miss out a lot...and guided fun is essential to learning for all children. Floortime is largely, it seems, interpretive, and relies on the child development literature. The theory seems to be that brain development relies heavily on a student's experience, and if children with autism do not have those experiences, then their brains will not develop properly. I'd like to see data on that.
When I return, I will read whatever I can on brain development and children with autism. More on that later!
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