Greenspan's Emphasis on Joy is what made him special

[Guest guest]

FROM: http://autism.about.com/

Dr. Stanley Greenspan Dies at 68; Sad Loss to Autism Community

Thursday April 29, 2010

Dr. Stanley Greenspan, MD, passed away yesterday at the age of 68.

Greenspan was the founder of the Developmental, Individual Difference,

Relationship-based (DIR®/Floortime™) Model for autism treatment. He was

also a groundbreaking developmental psychologist, and one of the founders

of the early childhood organization Zero to Three.

I had the pleasure of attending two Floortime conferences led by Dr.

Greenspan, and made use of his books and videos to help my son develop

play and relationship skills. What made Dr. Greenspan special was not his

expertise or knowledge - though both were deep and broad. It wasn't his

authorship of important books - though he wrote many. It wasn't his

leadership, or even rhis theapeutic skill.

What made Stanley Greenspan so extraordinary, particularly within the

autism community, was his emphasis NOT on skills, remediation, challenges

or delays - but on joy. Of all the people out there providing new tools,

resources, therapies and educational techniques for children on the autism

spectrum, it was Greenspan alone who let us know that joy was possible -

for us as parents and, more importantly, for our children.

While Dr. Greenspan is gone, his work will live on. Find out more about

Floortime!

Dinar

rebecca@...

CasaBlanca Academy: the only school based soley on DIR© in the State of

Florida. Learn more. Visit us at www.CasaBlancaAcademy.org.