Hi DIR Support Group:

Our most recent meeting was on March 5, 2008, a combined meeting

with professionals and parents.

WHERE WE ARE

We talked about the course of the year to date in our studies of the
underpinnings of the DIR®/Floortime model:

1. growth enhancing relationships (see Floortime.org web radio

from August 2007 through September 2007)
2. the effect of our past relationships on what we bring to our work
with each other (see the late Selma Fraiberg's article Ghosts in
the Nursery).
3. the protective and healing effect that interactions and
relationships can have on the expression of genetic conditions
such as ADHD, Schizophrenia, and others (Google GxE in the
medical-psychiatric literature: the most recent issue of JAACAP
has such an article)
4. the importance of Joint Attention / Engagement as the main focus
of our efforts (of the growing research on this, a good example is
the recent article by Delincolas and Young, “Joint attention,
language, social relating, and stereotypical behaviours in
children with autistic disorder.” In Autism: SAGE Publications and
The National Autistic Society Vol 11(5) 425–436, 2007).
5. the need for Wraparound, i.e., having everyone on the team:
parents, teachers, and other providers communicating,
cooperating, adn working in the same effort to woo our family
members into engaged relating.
6. our next task this year is to look at our Finest Moments, i.e.,
sharing, as appropriate, our successes with DIR®/Floortime and
related interventions (my article is an example: Case Studies of 
Graduate Students Implementing DIR Programs, Travis Bradberry, M.S. 
and Josh Feder, M.D. THE JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENTAL AND 
LEARNING DISORDERS Volume 6, 2002).

OUR METHODS

Our local DIR professionals have been looking at several relationship

based or relationship related intervention models, including The Miller
Method, Hannen More Than Words, and ABLC.
We talked about DIR and related therapies, and here is the promised
comparison:

Therapy Affective Individualized Follows Developmental Playfully

(emotional) treatment the lead ‘bottom – up’ ‘getting in
focus of the progression the way’
child of the
child
ABLC – Diane +++ +++ + +++ ++
Lewis
(parent of
speech therapist
does this –
detailed manual
available on
icdl.com))
Miller Method + +++ + ++ ++
(therapist works
with child -
parent often
present)
Hanen More + +++ +++ +++ +++
Than Words
(Parents trained
by Speech
Therapists
certified in the
method)
DIR®/Floortim +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
e (coach whole
team, incl.
family and
school, to
engage child in
continuous flow
of interactions).

Speaking of Finest Moments, we next looked at looked at two DVDs of

some of our icdl faculty.

First we saw frequent guest faculty member Dr Arnold Miller's work,

circa 1988-1989, with a child with significant challenges in relating and
communicating and sever perseverative symptoms. He uses a
combination of following the child's lead and attention to several areas
of motor and sensory function to build elements of interaction and
communication. Dr Miller's use of elevated planks is a remarkable and
distinguishing feature of his work. Our group member Lana Randall is
bringing Dr Miller to San Diego for a conference this month on March
29-30 at ACES downtown. Go to http://millerinsandiego.org/ for more
information. Dr Miller will be using OUR KIDS as case examples. There
is no charge to have your child evaluated, as a public case example, by
Dr Miller but spaces are limited, so contact me or go to the website for
more information.

This was a big day as we next saw ICDL Faculty master clinician speech
therapist Sima Gerber, PhD, CCC on part of her recently distributed
DVD. We are trying to get more copies of her DVD for mass
distribution in our area. It gives clear and excellent explanations of the
history of relationship-based understanding of communication
development, compares typical development with developmental
challenges, and demonstrates evaluation and intervention in
engagement and communication. For example, Dr Gerber describes
the components of Engagement: shared attention, shared intention,
and affective reciprocity. The scenes of therapy show the challenges
and also show successes with all the elements of Daniel Stern’s
‘vitality affects’ as the parents and therapists ‘shimmy and squeal’
(move and respond in an engaged, co-regulated manner) in reciprocal
interactions with the child in the DVD. I can’t wait to show the entire
DVD to more and more of us in town!

Following Feder:

I have a number of speaking engagements coming up over the next

three months. The invited audiences are somewhat varied, and I hope
to reach out to more parts of our community:

1. March 18 - San Diego ASA talk, 630 pm - An Open Forum:

Dreams and Nightmares in the World of Autism. Will we survive?
Can we thrive? (open to the public)

2. March 25 – Rady Children’s Hospital Autism Research Workgroup:

the Thimerisol and Vaccine Controversy, an Explanation and
Update (for local professionals who join the workgroup)

3. April 11 - IEP Day: Two session: Biology vs. Behavior: An

Interactive Seminar, and Dual Diagnosis: When there is a
psychiatric disorder
4. on top of a developmental or learning disorder (sign up through
www.iepday.org)

5. May 30 – UCSD Child Psychiatry Grand Rounds: “BEYOND

MEDICATION AND BEHAVIORAL THERAPY: THE CASE FOR USING A
RELATIONSHIP-BASED FRAMEWORK FOR THE TREATMENT OF
 PERSONS WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS” (open to UCSD
School of Medicine Students, Faculty and Related departments).

The April Conference in Seattle with Rosemary White is being

postponed due to issues with the venue. It probably will be
rescheduled in the fall of 2008, so stay tuned.

ICDL CONFERENCES AND TRAINING:

The biggest Announcement is…

The Infancy and Early Childhood Training Course Taught by
Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D. Comes to You - ONLINE!
For the first time, THE BASIC COURSE ON THE DIR®/FLOORTIME™
MODEL
will be available online to registered participants for a two-week period
from April 25 through May 9, 2008.
There will also be a Post-Conference Workshop on REGULATORY
SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDERS Taught by Rosemary White OTR/L
and Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D. Go to www.ICDL.com for more
information.

The DIR®/Floortime™ Institute is Pleased to Announce

Five Programs for 2008, July 7- 11, 2008
National Conference Center, Lansdowne, VA
There are five different programs this year for professionals seeking
DIR® certification at various levels and in different disciplines,
including administrators of programs. Prerequisites include supervised
work in DIR®/Floortime or attendance at the Basic Course of an
equivalent training course. Go to www.ICDL.com for more information.

Also, many local people are considering the new ICDL Graduate School,
Ph.D. program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and
Developmental Disorders. The ICDL Graduate School offers a PhD
program in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health and
Developmental Disorders through a distance learning format for
qualified applicants throughout the United States and abroad.
Our next meetings of the DIR®/Floortime Support Groups are on April
9, 2008, 9-1030 am for professionals and 1030 am - noon for parents.
Hope to see you there!

Dr Feder