Course Description

In this 3-week course, you will have an introduction to the DIR/Floortime approach from a parent perspective. Participants will review Season 1 of the 'We chose play' Floortime documentary and discuss each episode with its creator, Daria Brown, including review, and Q & A, and reflection and action steps to support your Floortime experience. Here’s your chance to view the new documentary series you’ve heard about but haven’t had a chance to watch yet!

'We chose play' is a series documenting one family’s Floortime journey from their child's birth through his autism diagnosis following a traumatic medical experience, discovering Floortime, putting together a DIR/Floortime-friendly team, and implementing DIR/Floortime for the next ten years. With each episode, you’ll glean insights, tips, and reflections–"what I learned and what I know now that I would tell myself back then, along the way."

Week 1 

Setting up the scenario for choosing the DIR approach: We will watch the first 3 episodes of Season 1 together and have a discussion.

Episode 1: In the beginning… The necessary step we had to take, after the diagnosis, to move forward.

Episode 2: What did we miss? How parents question themselves and why it’s so important to avoid blame.

Episode 3: How do we start? Understanding the most important thing you can do to help your child.

Week 2 

Exploring the sensorimotor profile and starting Floortime: We will watch episodes 4 and 5 together with discussions after each episode.

Episode 4: Let’s start Looking at your child’s individual profile to inform your play.

Episode 5: Let’s play! Examples of our early experiences doing Floortime.

Week 3 

Understanding the power of coaching and self-reflection: We will watch episode 6 together followed by a discussion and wrap-up.

Episode 6: Let’s reflect Reflecting on a Floortime video with a coach to highlight the process.

Prerequisite: None

Instructor

Daria Brown has a Master's in Personality and Social Psychology, specializing in Individual Differences. She has worked in research, evaluation, and education for over 25 years at universities, not-for-profits, and the government. She created Affect Autism, a website, and podcast for parents and practitioners looking to implement DIR/Floortime. Daria also facilitates ICDL's weekly parent support drop-in as ICDL's Parent Advocate.

Learning Objectives

• Participants will be able to understand how their relationship with their child facilitates a sense of safety and security in their child's environment that allows for developmental progress.

• Participants will be able to understand how assessing a child's developmental capacities helps determine how to interact with the child in a constructive way for the child.

• Participants will be able to explain how understanding a child's individual differences, including their sensory processing profile, helps tailor constructive interactions with the child.

There will be no continuing education credits offered for this course.

Included with course

Included with course: 

• Access to Season 1 of 'We chose play' Floortime documentary (6 episodes)

• Access to class recordings for 30 days

• Presenter slides

• Action Steps Hand-out

• Takeaways Hand-out

• Resources Hand-out 

• Participant Comments Hand-out