Engaging Autism: Using the Floortime Approach to Help Children Relate, Communicate, and Think

I am "seasoned" in DIR/FT, having read numerous books by Dr. Greenspan and Dr. Wieder and attended ICDL and Floortime Foundation conferences. This book thoroughly explains the core deficits of autism spectrum disorder and the DIR/FT approach. If your child was recently diagnosed with ASD or if you have an older child/adolescent with difficulty with social interactions (pragmatic language) or sensory needs, this is an excellent book to read. There are also examples with respect to integrating FT into the school curriculum. It complements Dr. Greenspan's "The Child with Special Needs".

My daughter is 8. We did the early intervention from age 2,Kind. and 1st grade. School goals were to make her autism not so obvious by teaching her to be quiet in class and follow a schedule. I found a mom who did her own consulting. Her daughter started non verbal at age 2 like mine. However, she used Greenspan and her daughter is amazing and in a reg. Kindergarten with no shadows. Very articulate, executive functioning (planning etc) is excellent. When asked how she did this she replied I worked my "blank" off! You would be amazed at what floor time accomplishes. We got pretty normal eye contact in a month. When you imitate them they look at you. She has learned nouns, not nouns, verbs, pronouns... When I read Greenspan I found a wealth of ideas for all kind of situations and I needed stories to see how to do it. She doesn't need much chair time except some of homeschooling. I want a kid who argues with her brother, can whine like any kid. I want her to play and make friends. Remember, be a kid yourself,laugh,have fun during therapy. Your presence has to be the reason playing is more fun. Read Greenspan. I did like the second book better. My husband and I have seen such huge positive changes. You begin to take for granted what didn't exist before. Isn't that nice? Greenspan keeps it functional, real life teaching in the moment! P.S. The disciplinarian teaches nothing. Knock off the military mindset.

I am a psychologist (PHD) and also mother to a child with Autism. I own several of Greenspan's other books and have been doing floortime with my son for 3 years. This book is an excellent resource for parents of autistic spectrum kids or professionals who work with these children. I had read Greenspan and Wieder's earlier book on floortime, but this 2nd book expands on the method considerably, laying it out in an even better format. It is also interesting to read Greenspan's examples of cases that he has worked with. Since children on the spectrum are so diverse, these examples are varied and represent ways that floortime can be used with children who have many different issues. I highly recommend this book. It is designed for parents to read, so anyone considering buying it should not feel that they have to be a professional to understand it.

The book gives you insight not only about autism but as well how our feelings and social skills develop in general. An autistic person meets with respect for her unique personality, the aim is to support personal growth not to manipulate behavior. It has humanistic approach to see a man as an integrated whole personality not just as a number of separate functions.

Engaging Autism provides clear, practical information on how parents, therapists, and other caregivers can use the DIR/Floortime Approach to help children with autism spectrum disorders. As a pediatric OT and author of a book on sensory integration issues, I really appreciate Dr. Greenspan's explanations of sensory modulation difficulties and sensory and emotional overload and how these problems interfere with development. He examines a few of the many challenges posed by sensory issues, such as potty training and mealtime, and offers some good strategies, including working with a knowledgeable occupational therapist. This excellent resource helps parents start asking the right questions about what approach to use to help the child with ASD, provides useful advice on handling everyday problems, and offers current brain research and efficacy studies about the DIR/Floortime approach. --Lindsey Biel www.sensorysmarts.com