Family and child in the DIR/Floortime approach

DIR/Floortime is increasingly used in work with children with ASD and other developmental disorders and is one of the popular and well-known psychological and pedagogical approaches. Its authors are an American psychiatrist Dr. Stanley Greenspan and his colleague Sirena Wider. One of the significant features of this approach is that it brings a child with impaired development closer to the path of healthy ontogenetic development. At the heart of DIR/Floortime there is a model of emotional functional development which includes a number of hierarchically organized skills necessary for the healthy development of the child's psyche. The development of these skills occurs in emotionally significant relationships that take into account the individual characteristics of the child, including the family component. From the point of view of the DIR/Floortime approach, the child's family is the main resource of his development. It is important for parents to have certain skills that facilitate interaction with the child. At the heart of the DIR/Floortime approach there is J. Bowlby's theory of attachment, in which great importance is given to the quality of attachment between the child and the parents. It can both facilitate and hinder the manifestation of these parenting skills. During lessons with the child and conversations with parents, we pay attention to the nature of interaction between parents and children, explore their capabilities and help them develop skills and abilities important for establishing interactions with the child. The article discusses these skills and provides specific examples of the DIR/Floortime specialist working with parents.