COURSES
FOR PROFESSIONALS
The Center for Neurodiverse Development offers introductory Floortime® courses geared to undergraduate and graduate students as well as professionals working in the field. These semester-length courses may be held at the Astra Foundation offices (524 Main Street, Acton, MA) or online.
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Learn more about our offerings below and register for upcoming courses. Questions? Contact debbie@astrafoundation.org.
DIR 101 - Introduction to DIR®/Floortime for Professionals
This course presents an introduction to the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-Based model, pioneered by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, for working with children with developmental delays.
Students will learn about the six functional developmental levels that a child must master including Shared Attention, Engagement, Two-Way Purposeful Communication, Two-Way Problem-Solving Communication, Emotional Ideas and Abstract Thinking.
Students will also learn about Floortime, a strategic, goal-oriented, affect-filled way of interacting that encompasses assessment, goal creation and other tools to help a child initiate and respond at higher developmental levels.
DIR 201 - Essential Floortime Skills for DIR®/Floortime Practitioners
This course is designed for students who have a basic understanding of the theoretical foundations of the DIR® model and who wish to do effective Floortime with children with special needs.
Strategic and finely-tuned Floortime requires the ability to view the child within the context of a larger DIR® framework. Students will learn to put together a basic profile of a child that includes an understanding of the model’s three component parts.
Students will explore and practice a range of Floortime strategies and techniques geared toward challenging a child to move to higher levels within a session and making developmental progress over time. Students will present video of their sessions and brainstorm ways to make their work more effective.
DIR 202 -
The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale and Reflective Supervision in DIR®/Floortime
This course is designed for students who have an understanding of the theoretical foundations of the DIR® model and some experience with basic Floortime skills and techniques.
Students will learn to administer Greenspan, Wieder and DeGangi’s FEAS (Functional Emotional Assessment Scale). Students will explore Greenspan’s Affect Diathesis Hypothesis: The Role of Emotion in the Core Deficit in Autism and in the Development of Intelligence and Social Skills. Students will continue to expand and refine their Floortime skills.
DIR 101 and 201 are pre-requisites unless a student has special permission of the instructors.
