Our Tools - Sensory Connections - Providing innovative therapy services for children and families

Floortime is at the heart of a D.I.R.® program and is the active process of interacting in a continuous back and forth manner, following the child’s lead and intentions.

Using attuned interactions through gestures and words to first bring the child into a shared world with the caregiver and then to expand into simple and complex gestures and problem solving and into the world of ideas and abstract thinking.

Floortime, although a technique is also a general philosophy of relating to children.

For more information see www.floortime.org

testimonials

"Our daughter, Isabella was diagnosed with Autism at the age of 3 years 11months old. We began fortnightly therapy sessions with Occupational Therapist Kathy Walmsley. As parents we have endeavoured to do 1-2 Floor-time play sessions of ½ hour duration each day with Isabella. The improvement in Isabella’s development has been dramatic.

Before therapy began Bella displayed practically no pretend play & what she did was extremely basic. She played mostly by herself or alongside other children at childcare & whilst she seemed to want to play with the other children she didn’t appear to know how to go about it, her social interactions were very limited. Due to an auditory processing problem & language delay Bella had difficulty in following directions & communicating her needs, her frustration was often vented in tantrum throwing.

After only 5 months of D.I.R.® based occupational therapy intervention Bella now loves to dress up & pretend to be all sorts of characters. She is creative in coming up with ideas & themes of play though we are continuing to work on the logical sequencing of events. She plays really well with her sister, vocalizing so much more, she will often assume the "lead" role & direct her sister or I in play. Childcare staff report a marked increase in Bella’s active participation in group activities, often at her own instigation & a "friendship" with 2 little girls in particular.

Our daughter can now ask for things she wants verbally rather than leading me to the item in question by the hand for example. The incidence of tantrums has reduced drastically due to this new confidence & ability to express herself more appropriately. She will actively seek me out to play with her & to communicate. The best feature about the Floor-time approach for Bella was the focus of " fun play." Bella absolutely loves going to "Kathy’s" because she enjoyed the sessions so much. I believe this is the main reason Bella benefited & made such gains in her development."

Mother of 4½ year old Bella.

"Our son Daniel is now six years old, three years after being diagnosed with autism and two years after we were lucky enough to meet Kathy Walmsley and discover the D.I.R.® approach. The D.I.R.® approach has been wonderful for our family because it has given us a way of living and growing with Daniel that is consistent with our values and which treats him with dignity and respect.We want Daniel to develop his potential and become the person he wants to be.

We value the D.I.R.® approach because it supports this goal and is about development, relationships and learning, not control and compliance. We believe that the D.I.R.® approach allows parents to learn as well as children. I have learned about my own sensory issues and my assumptions about play and parenting as well as more about Daniel and how to relate positively to him. Daniel has learnt many things, of course, as children do when given support and the right environment.

He has learnt how to survive in a regular school and how to train his teachers to help him cope! He is a sunny, intelligent boy with many challenges but also huge strengths - strengths which the D.I.R.® approach has allowed us to see and build upon. We are proud of our son. We are one family of a growing number in W.A. who are very grateful to Dr Greenspan, Dr Wieder, and the I.C.D.L. team in the USA and Kathy Walmsley here in Perth."

Rachel, 6 year old Daniel’s mum.

“2 1/2 years ago our world was turned upside down when our beautiful 2 yr old son was diagnosed with autism. With the wonderful help and guidance of Kathy Walmsley we began our education in DIR® /Floor-time. Little did we know just how positive an effect this would have on M. & our family and just how far we would come? What seemed all consuming at the beginning soon became an integral & very special part of everyday life.

Floor-time has enriched our lives more than we could ever have imagined. M. has a beautiful older brother N. who is 6. He has played an amazing role in M. development. He is unbelievably patient, a wonderful playmate, protector, teacher, guide & model for him & most importantly - his best mate. He has incorporated Floor-time into his life without question & has benefited greatly also. At 2 M. was self-absorbed, non-verbal, and disengaged from everyone around him. Now, after incorporating Floor-time into all aspects of our life he has truly blossomed. He is very social & talkative, unashamedly loving & affectionate, clever, creative, has a great sense of humor & is an absolute joy. I believe adding "challenges" adds a depth & dimension to your life previously unrealized.

I know we have a long road ahead, as these challenges are ongoing. Even though this may sometimes seem daunting it is no longer terrifying to us. Using what we have learnt & will continue to learn we can face that future with a smile & look forward to all the rewards & marvels it will bring to our family."

R. mother of M. aged 4 1/2.

“Hello, my name is Noah and I am about to turn four. One year ago I was diagnosed with Autism. This is not who I am and it does not define me but it is something I have to live with every day. I remember the very first meeting with Kathy and Yvonne; I was very happy to go into the room with all the interesting toys. But then something terrible happened. They asked me to take off my shoes so I could go on the mat! I was not expecting this at all (I loved my shoes) and suddenly I felt like my whole world fell apart. I dropped to the ground and cried for the next 25 minutes. Yvonne and Kathy were very patient and understanding. They knew I couldn’t help it, and told Mum that they thought they could help me to overcome my challenges so that I could climb the developmental ladder. Today I am very different.

With lots of help from Yvonne and Mum, and many hours of hard core play (which is great because I get to run the show), I and doing really well. I love to play with people now, all the time. In fact I get very grumpy when Mum talks to Yvonne and they stop playing with me. I can tolerate nearly any unexpected change and stay calm for the whole session. Yvonne is always being "difficult" and can never seem to just do what I ask right away. But I don’t mind anymore, I know she will help me eventually if I talk her round for long enough. Mum now says I’ve also been recently diagnosed with Cheeky Monkey Disorder. She believes with help I can overcome this too.. I think not!!!

Thank you Yvonne, Kathy and Liana for helping me and patiently loving me. Thank you Dr Greenspan and DR Wieder for being so clever and passionate about kids like me."

Noah, nearly 4 years old with some help from his Mum.