A long article to appear in the October 19th’s New York Times Magazine describes the D.I.R./Floortime approach for teaching autistic children and, specifically, autistic teenagers. A Decatur, Georigia, school, The Community School is profiled. D.I.R./Floortime is contrasted to Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), which is based on the principles of behavioral science and is widely used to teach autistic children. The goal of D.I.R./Floortime is said to be a “kindling of a student’s curiosity, intelligence, playfulness and energy, the lessons can take on a spontaneous, electric quality” and the “essence” said to be that “a person learns best when self-motivated, …read more