The Child Development Program works with Autism Outreach out of Winnipeg, to offer strategies of development based therapy, which are founded on the DIR/Floortime therapy approach.
Woah! Wait a minute here. That was a lot of fancy language right there. Let’s back up a bit and see if we can break this down some.
Autism Outreach is a program offering a few different intervention strategies. The setup for how this program is operated is different depending on if you live in Winnipeg vs. rural regions of Manitoba. CDS is working toward consistency in the program province-wide to the greatest extent possible, however this does take some time. The AEIS are trained in several autism intervention approaches, including DIR/Floortime. In rural regions the AEIS is also the coordinator of child development services, whereas in Winnipeg these are two distinct services. As this program is still fairly recently established rurally and is so distinct from what it is for families living in the capital city, we will not be going farther into this. If you would like more information because you are going to be moving into Winnipeg or are currently living there, please contact your CDS Case Manager, or local CDS office.
DIR (Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship Based) is a therapy approach which focuses on the emotional and social development and learning of children with autism and was development by Dr. Stanley Greenspan. It aims to keep a child’s sensory issues and concerns in mind when building on their skills. The goal of this type of therapy is to help a child reach healthy emotional milestones, which are critical to learning. Areas of focus for developing a child’s skills include:
- Communication
- Thinking and learning
- Motor skills
- Body awareness
- Attention
The idea behind this approach is that this type of learning helps a child to overcome their symptoms/developmental delays and difficulties, rather than just trying to change the symptoms alone, and enables the child to learn in other ways as well as they are growing up.
Floortime is an integral part of DIR but is only one aspect of it. It is especially important in early stages of treatment. Floortime is an intensive and fun session in which parents use play-based learning to interact with their children and help them develop their skills based on the DIR model. A parent will get down on the floor for an intensive but short time period with their child (20-30 minutes) in order to play one-on-one. The play should be fun and unplanned, and should take advantage of the child’s emotions (what they’re interested in, how they have fun, etc.) in order to present them with challenges and opportunities for growth. For example, if the child wants to build with Lego’s, the parent can hold the one that they need so that the child has to tell them (verbally or non-verbally) that they want it. A child is not in control of activities in Floortime, but rather their interests are used as a starting point to build relationships, social skills, and understanding.
With that in mind, what the Child Development Program does is offer weekly, in-home sessions, during which parents are coached and guided on how to interact with their child. These sessions start out with weekly sessions for the first few months, the goal being that eventually the Child Development Worker (the CDS employee who is overseeing the session) will fade back to the point where the parent is planning and implementing more and more of the sessions. Basically, the Development Worker is there to teach the parents how to teach/help their child in a manner that is harmonious to that child’s particular learning and development needs.
Parent participation is mandatory for all sessions. There are other intervention strategies in which a parents are not required to be directly involved in activities, so it is important to note that this is not the case with the Child Development Program. At minimum one parent must be participating in every session, whether it is the same parent every time, or not, or two parents. The sessions run about an hour and a half and can happen at the same time every week. Scheduling may vary depending on your schedule and the Child Development Worker’s.
You can expect the first few sessions to be shorter than the ones that follow. They will serve to introduce the Child Development Worker to your family and start an assessment process for your child. The AEIS may also be there to ask questions and observe your child while they play with the Development Worker.
The assessment process will allow the AEIS to come up with development goals and milestones to which your family can work toward in subsequent sessions. Every once in a while, as your family and child progresses through the sessions, these goals may evolve and change. These goals are then published in summary reports and are completed approximately every six months. The Child Development Worker will take one session off to write your child’s goals and then will submit them to the AEIS for approval. Between the time that the goals are submitted and final approval, the Child Development Worker will work with your family on teaching Floortime principles, basic behavioural strategies, routines, etc.
Once these goals are updated, the Child Development Worker will use modeling, verbal instruction, and coaching to teach various ways to work on goals. In-home session assessments are on-going and at the end of every session, you will be provided with a summary report of strategies to work on, tips, observed behaviours, and goals to work on for the next session.
After those first few months, once your family is more comfortable with the way sessions are conducted, the frequency of those sessions should start to lessen. This, of course, will only happen if your family is feeling secure enough to do so and you have discussed it with your Child Development Worker. On the flip side of that, if you feel that your child would benefit from more frequent sessions (i.e. more than once a week), this is something that you can discuss with your CDS Case Manager and the AEIS.
What about times when sessions cannot be held in your family’s home? There is a solution for this too! For whatever the reason, if a development session cannot be held in your home, then it is possible for sessions to take place at the Provincial building, if you are living in Brandon. Other locations for those living in rural areas may be available as well, depending on availability and location. As always, please contact your CDS Case Manager and work with your Child Development Worker for personal situations.
There is no set standard for how often you are expected to work with your child outside of the in-home sessions on the Child Development goals. It is true that the more skills are worked on, the quicker a child will learn them and be able to work on different or higher skills. If you do not feel that you are creative enough to find ways of implementing the tools you have been shown during development sessions, do not fret. There are many parent/caregivers who feel the same way.
Whatever way you feel would benefit your child’s learning best, you can absolutely request a more structured outline (like a curriculum) from your Child Development Worker. Some parents have made use of a Parent Daily Individual Plan (DIP) which outlines how a parent can work on their child’s goals within various daily routines (e.g. bath time, supper time, play time, etc.). Other parents may want to ask for a specific 20 minute routine of what to do with their child.
When regression of behaviour occurs with your child, your Child Development Worker will want to speak with your family to see if there are any factors that might be impacting their learning (e.g. sickness, lack of sleep, change in routine, etc.). They would then work with you and your child to re-teach any skill that has regressed.
Unfortunately, this wonderful program does not last forever. The Child Development program is for pre-school children only. Once a child is in school, your family will then be transitioned to working with the school division for your child’s goals. Depending on how frequent your child is in Kindergarten (i.e. full days every day or half-days), the Child Development sessions will end in either August or December. This does not mean that once your child reaches the age they can enter school that their Child Development sessions will immediately end. It is only once they are actually attending school. If your child is held back from attending school for whatever reason, Child Development sessions will continue, regardless of their age. *Before making the decision to withhold your child from attending school, please consult with the appropriate professionals.*
When your child is ready to attend school, the Child Development Worker, the AEIS, and your CDS Case Manager, whenever possible, will attend the school transition meeting with your family and provide the school division with a transition report. Child Development/Autism Outreach staff are also available to consult with school teams, at request of the school, typically for your child’s first half of their first year of school. *Some regions offer the full year, depending on resources and the number of children on their caseload.*
Click here to go to the Prairie Spectrum description of St.Amant & Early Learning Program
Click here to go to the Prairie Spectrum description of the Westman Child Development Centre