Floortime Activities

Floortime activities are part of an autism treatment approach that is basically child led, with therapists, caretakers, and parents participating in play that interests the child. This approach is designed to engage each child at their own level of functioning and encourage them in moving forward through the steps of the developmental process.

There are six developmental milestones that are the goals to be worked towards when using the floortime approach for children with autism. These, according to the Greenspan floortime method are:

1. Self regulation and interest in the world- These accomplishments can be quite difficult for children with autism, due to the sensory issues that are common with ASD. Often children with ASD are hypersensitive to sensory input or hyposensitive, making it difficult to behave and interact appropriately.
2. Intimacy- This is the developmental stage where children begin to recognize familiar faces and search for them in their environment, as well as recognizing sounds, speech, and the sources of them. This process is a vital foundation for many essential skills to come later, such as communication and relationship skills, as well as cognitive and motor development.
3. Two-way communication- This stage begins when the child in question begins to recognize cause and effect, or give and take in communication, giving him or her the means to begin leaning about emotions and developing more refined cognitive skills.
4. Complex communication- In this stage, nonverbal expressiveness develops, as the child learns to use and recognize nonverbal communications like gestures, body language, and facial expressions in everyday interactions.
5. Emotional ideas- Abstract thought is the major development during this stage, giving rise to important pretend play skills and creative ideas, necessary for appropriate cognitive growth.
6. Emotional Thinking- In this stage, the child begins to be able to express feelings in words, explaining his or her emotions. Emotions become linked to actions or events during this stage as well, helping the child to be able to plan for future events or activities and anticipate the emotions that will come with them.

Every child with autism will reach these milestones at his or her own pace, depending upon many factors. For instance, those with severe sensory issues or communication deficits may meet some of those goals at a slower rate than those with milder developmental issues. Floortime activities are designed to gently nudge children through these stages by means of shared engagement, where adults enter the world of the child to build interaction skills and engage them, rather than attempting to control that world.

Floortime activities are just a s the name suggests, the adult sits right on the floor with the child to join in his play, engaging him at his own level. It is important to be enthusiastic in these interactions, using exaggerated facial expressions and gestures, and animated speech patterns to ensure that the child remains engaged. However, be sure that you are not dominating the play session, allowing and encouraging the child to lead the interaction between the two of you.

One great activity for children with autism involves the use of a sandbox. Burying items with varied colors and textures can be a great way to address tactile issues while reinforcing communication skills. Naming the items and their colors as they are dug up from the sand is a good way to spark interaction, as is having the child feel the items and guess what they are before they are removed from the sand.

Imitation games are a great way to stimulate interaction as well as encouraging those imaginative, pretend play skills. For the very young, simple peek-a-boo is a good start, with the added benefit of encouraging the observation of facial expression and eye contact. For older children, more complex imitation games, such as charades or the imitation of animal behaviors and sounds can be wonderful floortime activities to encourage both verbal and nonverbal communication skills development.

The most important thing to remember when using floortime activities to teach your child is that fun is part of the approach. Don't be afraid to be silly and entertaining to keep your child engaged. Keeping the lessons light will encourage learning, so be sure to avoid pressuring your child towards the desired goals. Stealth learning, disguised within active and engaging play, is the key to successful floortime activities.

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