DIR stands for Developmental, Individual differences and Relationship based. DIR® is the set of theoretical principles that guide the in-practice therapy of Floortime™.  DIR® Floortime™ seeks to understand the child’s underlying Individual differences including motor planning abilities, processing abilities, (visual and auditory), and sensory profile.

Therapy begins by observing and noting these individual differences which then inform and guide the therapy. Using the child’s interests as a window into his or her world, the therapist and child engage in joyful play in a way that considers his or her individual profile.

Six levels of play move the child through six levels of social and emotional development, known in DIR® Floortime™ as the FEDCs – the Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities: 

• Capacity 1: Self-Regulation and Interest in the World (emerges 0 to 3 months   

• Capacity 2: Engaging and Relating (emerges 2 to 7 months

• Capacity 3: Purposeful Two-Way Communication (emerges 3 to 10 months)

• Capacity 4: Complex Communication and Shared Problem Solving (emerges 9 to 18 months)

• Capacity 5: Using Symbols and Creating Emotional Ideas (emerges 18 to 48 months)

• Capacity 6: Logical Thinking and Building Bridges between Ideas (emerges 3 to 4 1/2 years). 

Climbing the social and emotional developmental ladder in this way develops the child’s ability to: regulate, engage, communicate, problem solve, plan and execute ideas, focus, initiate and sustain reciprocal peer play and conversation, think logically, increase cognitive flexibility, and reflect on abstract concepts. In DIR®, the Relationship between therapist and child is what drives the therapy and propels the child further. 

For further reading about DIR® Floortime™ please click the following link: https://www.icdl.com/dir/floortime