Infant Health and Stanley Greenspan
Infant health is one of the most significant aspects of understanding the human development across lifespan. The fact that the health of the infant affects their development into adulthood implies that there is always a need to consider the implication of the learning process in infancy through adolescence and finally into adulthood. It is on this premise that several infant psychologists including Stanley Greenspan sought to find the best ways of enhancing learning among infants. On 27 April, 2010, the world woke up to the news of the death of one of the most famous psychologists in the world – Stanley Greenspan. Stanley Greenspan was a clinical professor who recognized the importance of teaching children by first getting into their level. More than forty years ago, Stanley Greenspan understood the essence of meeting children on their developmental and physical level as a means of maximizing the interaction communication, and learning. The main implication of this realization was the need to get on the floor and engage the attention of the child. His studies helped transform the way theoreticians, clinicians, and diagnosticians understood the development and thinking of both children and adolescents. Perhaps the most important implication of his works is that it formulated guidance for the care and treatment of children with mental disorders especially those with autism. It is prudent to note that Greenspan has been recognized globally as a pioneer authority on mental health among infants and children. However, it is essential to recognize the fact that he developed one of the most significant theories in regards to teaching among infants – the Greenspan Floortime Approach. The essay provides a link between the Greenspan Floortime Approach to educational development and its role in clinical psychology.
The Greenspan Floortime Approach
Stanley Greenspan developed the Greenspan Floortime Approach as part of his developmental approach to therapy. He recognized the need for parents to master the emotional milestones that are essential in developing a foundation for learning. The main premise of his approach was that emotions give meaning to experiences and that they also have an impact on the direction of our actions. Like Edward Tronick's still-face experiment that sees how children develop emotionally (Tronick and Beeghly, 2011), this approach focuses on the development of emotions and the impact that it has on the actions of an individual. The Greenspan Floortime Approach is an approach that was developed in an attempt to meet the children where they are in regards to development and understanding. By meeting the children at their level, the approach builds upon their abilities and strengths by creating a relationship that is warm and interactive. The approach challenges the infant to go further to develop who they are instead of focusing on the assertions of their diagnosis. The main premise of this approach by Greenspan is to excite the interests of the children, draw a connection with them and challenge their creativity, curiosity, and spontaneity as a means of helping them move forward intellectually and emotionally. However, this approach may also be applied as the child grows into adolescence. In that case, the approach evolves into a more exciting back-and-forth activity that explores the ideas of the child.
Benefits and Applications of the Floortime Approach
According to Kordt-Thomas (2006), the Floortime approach is a play-based one-to-one approach that helps children to develop language, thinking, and in the formation of relationships. A major upside for the approach is that it is helpful for both children with special needs and those with typical development. The approach can also be applied by teachers, families, and caregivers in particular brief sessions in a single day. For instance, when working with preschoolers or children with special needs, this is an approach that is given in an organized timetable. In the classroom, the approach provides a new perspective on playtime. It recognizes that children acquire valuable skills as they play and is quickly developing into a viable option especially when helping preschoolers to gain essential communicative skills. For instance, since the child is the center figure in the approach, they take the lead. The implication of making the children take the lead is that they develop their self-esteem as well as eloquence as the approach capitalizes on their innate abilities that can be strengthened as others are built. As part of home therapy, the same rationale is applied. Greenspan and Wieder (2007) posit that the approach encourages the adult working with the child to analyze the deeper meanings in the play behavior and recognizing that the behavior has a purpose and an objective. However, this approach is an analytical approach that requires a one-to-one focus that may not be fit or realistic in all classroom settings. Kordt-Thomas and Lee (2006) suggest that using the therapy for children in pre-school and kindergarten helps them to develop early learning skills. However, while children with typical development may acquire the skills naturally during playtime, those on the spectrum may require a systematic approach like the one offered through the Floortime approach.
Comparison to other Approaches
The benefits of the Floortime Approach or the Direct Individual Difference approach are based on the fact that the approach actually focuses on the interests of the child. For children on the spectrum and in particular those with autism, the model is beneficial as it focuses on the two main skills, communication, and play. Since it is an approach of hyperactive play it involves the autistic child to stay interested. Among preschool children it keeps their focus on the particular play session by engaging their innate abilities such as their cognition and responsiveness to the various directions of play. Since this approach is human developmental structures, it is effective in supporting both the child and families across the lifespan. As a form of therapy that is based on the ability of the child to create relationships and analyze the effects of the emotions on the actions of a child, the Floortime model has helped families to better understand the behaviors of children especially those with spectrum disorders.
Conclusion
It is prudent to note that the Greenspan Floortime Approach has been adopted in many clinical therapy sessions for children with spectrum disorders to replace the conventional Applied Behavior Analysis Approaches like the Lovaas Model. The Lovaas Model broke down the learning process into steps, gradually building attention, imitation teaching, as well as shaping verbal responses to a point where the teacher would teach functional language to certain children with autism (Virues-Ortega, 2010). However, it is rather obvious that the two approaches are premised on acquisition of skills but from different angles. Greenspan's model focused on the child as the lead character in the process while Lovaas focused on the teacher as the main character whose purpose is to pass the skill to the child then later analyze the child's behavior. Lovaas Model like most ABA approaches mostly buys into the idea of operant conditioning that assumes that thoughts and feelings could be developed or reinforced by putting into place certain stimuli (MacLeod, 2007). Nevertheless, the Greenspan Floortime Model is applauded for being more respectful and kind and more responsive to the emotions of the child without being overbearing. Unlike the ABA models where the teacher is the reinforcement, the approach focuses on the relationship between the teachers, the parent, or the caregiver towards the child realizing their abilities and strengthening them.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, Stanley Greenspan was an individual whose genius changed the face of clinical psychology and therapy for many children and families around the world. He revolutionized both teaching and therapy for children with special needs and natural development. It is quite apparent that the Floortime Approach has definitely replaced the ABA approaches whereby the adult is the reinforcement towards character acquisition and development of skill. The approach by Stanley Greenspan gives the child the lead role thus ensuring that the innate skills are strengthened as the child acquires other skills. It is prudent to note that the fact that the approach is relationship-based implies that the as the child develops skills, they are also able to forge relationships with the adult thus making it easier to monitor their behavior. Indeed, the fact that the emotions of the child are implied to direct the actions of the child implies that the behavior can be related to the mood of the child and the skills they are acquiring during playtime.
References
Greenspan, S. I., " Wieder, S. (2007). The developmental individual-difference, relationship- based (DIR/Floortime) model approach to autism spectrum disorders.
Kordt-Thomas, C., " Lee, I. M. (2006). Floor time: rethinking play in the classroom. YC Young Children, 61 (3), 86.
McLeod, S. A. (2007). BF Skinner: Operant conditioning. Retrieved September, 9, 2009.
Tronick, E., " Beeghly, M. (2011). Infants' meaning-making and the development of mental health problems. American Psychologist, 66 (2), 107.
Virués-Ortega, J. (2010). Applied behavior analytic intervention for autism in early childhood: Meta-analysis, meta-regression and dose–response meta-analysis of multiple outcomes. Clinical psychology review, 30 (4), 387-399.
