DIR Model

The DIR/Floortime Approach is a comprehensive framework for understanding and treating children with developmental challenges.  It focuses on helping children master the building blocks of relating, communicating and thinking which provides a foundation for learning.

The components of the DIR model are:

Developmental: There are six sequential developmental milestones crucial for learning, which most children in nurturing environments and without developmental challenges master more easily. Children with challenges are also able to master them in their own time, with the right support.

Individual Differences: Each child has a unique profile for taking in, processing, and using information. Individual differences in auditory processing, visual processing, sensory-motor processing, motor planning and sequencing, and regulation determine the child’s unique timeline and pathway for accomplishing these milestones. By understanding the child’s individual profile, we can support the child’s developmental mastery and thus his ability to learn.

Relationship-Based: Meaningful relationships with primary caregivers are key in advancing the child along the developmental ladder.