Engaging autism: using the floortime approach to help children relate, communicate, and think

In [this book, the authors] describe the DIR/Floortime approach and show how to enter a child's world and bring her or him into a shared world of relating, communicating, and thinking. Part I presents a new, more accurate way of defining autism and ASD and observing a child's earliest signs, and describes goals for working with children with ASD and other special needs within the DIR framework. Part II shows how families can take the lead in working with their children toward these goals. In Part III [the authors] describe the DIR model's Floortime technique and illustrate it in various contexts. Part IV looks at how to create a comprehensive treatment plan and how school environments can be modified to support treatment plans. In Part V, [they] address working with specific problems in greater depth. Appendices A-C present research that supports the DIR model. -Introd.