The Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based (DIR®/Floortime™) Model is a framework that tailors assessment and therapy to the unique challenges and strengths of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and other developmental challenges. The objectives of the DIR®/Floortime™ Model are to build healthy foundations for social, emotional, and intellectual capacities. It is the role of the child’s natural emotions and interests which has been shown to be essential for learning interactions that enable the different parts of the mind and brain to work together and to build successively higher levels of social, emotional, and intellectual capacities. Floortime™ is a specific technique to both follow the child’s natural emotional interests (lead) and at the same time challenge the child towards greater and greater mastery of the social, emotional, and intellectual capacities. With young children these playful interactions may occur on the “floor”, but go on to include conversations and interactions in other places. 

For more information visit https://www.stanleygreenspan.com/ 

• The TheraSuit is a soft dynamic proprioceptive orthosis that allows the use of bungees to be used to promote postural alignment. TheraSuit aims to promote alignment by re-educating muscle and motor movements to normalise muscle tone, sensory feedback and balance. Improve balance
• Improve coordination
• Support weak muscles
• Develop fine and gross motor skills
• Maintain head control and trunk support to improve speech production and fluency

 It is designed and recommend for people diagnosed with:

• Cerebral palsy
• Developmental delays
• Down Syndrome
• Spina Bifida
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Sensory Processing Disorders
• Muscle Tone Disorders
• And other Neurological Disorders

At All Together Therapy, our TheraSuit program is delivered on a one-on-one basis with an experienced and qualified Physiotherapist or Occupational Therapist.  The program typically runs 2-3hrs per day, 5 days per week for up to 3 weeks depending on the client’s individual needs.

The TheraSuit allows us to work with clients address goals such as:

• Re-training sensory motor pathways and motor planning.
• Manage muscle tone and develop motor patterns other than reflexes
• Improve balance, coordination
• Support weak muscles, through strengthening and increasing endurance
• Increase body awareness
• Develop fine and gross motor skills
• Maintain head control and trunk support to improve speech production and fluency

The Spider cage is a suspension system, which works with the use of belts, bungee cords and pulleys allowing the child to be supported and receive additional sensory motor feedback. Creating a supported and dynamic environment to work on functional skills to promote goal attainment.

The spider cage allows children to experience antigravity movements, it also allows a child to maintain postural alignment without hands on assistance from the therapist. Therefore, allowing the child and therapist the capacity to focus on specific movements and functional skills.  Exercises performed in full or partial weight bearing created by bungee suspension allows the child to develop a sense of security. This method also facilitates the development of functional skills (sitting, crawling, standing, walking, climbing, jumping etc.). Whilst in suspension, the child practices different activities that help promote sensory regulation.

The Spider Cage allows us to work with children to promote:

• Increase strength
• Increase range of motion (active and passive range of motion))
• Isolate desired (weakened) muscle or muscle groups and strengthen them to enable function
• Improve balance and coordination
• Assist upright position and posture
• Partial or full weight bearing
• Promote motor learning and motor planning
• Provide a variety of sensory regulation experiences
• Assist to develop a sense of security and success
• With the overall goal of developing key motor and sensory skills to promote goal attainment.

Sounds-Write is a quality first phonics programme. Its purpose is to provide classroom professionals with a comprehensive system with which to teach reading, spelling and writing.  It teaches all key elements of conceptual understanding, factual knowledge, and the three essential skills of blending, segmenting and phoneme manipulation necessary for learning to read and spell and it does so until all children achieve the automaticity that underlies the fluency of every successful reader. The Sounds-Write programme teaches pupils to understand the way the alphabet code works. Very often, in the early stages of learning to read and spell, because of the complexity of the code, pupils will not be able to spell some sounds by using the correct spellings. However, pupils taught using Sounds-Write will be able to write almost anything they want to write by using plausible (phonetic) spellings for sounds. In this way, pupils, teachers and parents can read anything the pupil has written. 

For more information visit https://www.sounds-write.co.uk/ 

The SOS Approach to Feeding stands for Sequential-Oral-Sensory because these are the major components of the program. SOS uses a transdisciplinary team (Pediatricians, Occupational Therapists, Registered Dietitians, and Speech Pathologists/Therapists) to evaluate and treat the “whole child” including: 

• Organ systems
• Muscles (including oral motor)
• Sensory processing
• Learning, behaviour and cognition
• Development
• Nutrition
• Environment

Based on and grounded philosophically in the “normal” developmental steps, stages and skills of feeding found in typically developing children, the SOS Approach focuses on increasing a child’s comfort level by exploring and learning about the different properties of food. The program allows a child to interact with food in a playful, non-stressful way, beginning with the ability to tolerate the food in the room and in front of him/her, then moving on to managing the smell of the foods, learning about how foods feel on the body and in their mouth, and then enjoying tasting and eating new foods following the Steps to Eating. 

For more information visit https://sosapproachtofeeding.com/ 

The aim of Learn to Play Therapy is to build the spontaneous pretend play ability of children. Learn to Play focusses on pretend play, as this type of play is the most complex and mature form of play. Pretend play also impacts on language (particularly narrative language), social interaction, and emotional integration of the child’s experiences. The play skills that are the focus of Learn to Play Therapy are: ability to spontaneously self-initiate play, sequencing play actions logically, using objects as something else (object substitution or symbols in play), engaging with a doll or teddy character outside of themselves, integrating their play so a clear play script is evident, role play and socially interacting using play.  

For more information visit https://www.learntoplayevents.com 

Neuro-Development Treatment (NDT) is a type of therapy used by physical, occupational, and speech-language therapists for individuals with movement and muscle control challenges. These motor control issues are typically referred to as neuro-motor or neuromuscular dysfunction, and can seriously affect body movement, muscle control, muscle coordination, posture and balance. Individuals with neuromuscular dysfunctions have unique needs which is why Neuro Developmental Therapy was developed and is now used by many of the therapists specializing in working with these individuals.

NDT is:

• An advanced 'hands-on' therapeutic approach that helps guide the individual to more efficient functional abilities. It utilizes principles of motor development, motor control, motor learning, and other supporting scientific principles to improve basic body functions.
• Engaging and motivating. Our goal is client motivation through intervention that includes ‘hands-on’ physical guidance strategies, verbal cues, and feedback, gradually adjusting over time according to client’s needs and emerging skills. 
• With the client and family at the center, the therapist uses a proven, industry-standard model to assess activity and participation in daily routines. Then, building on the client’s functional strengths, the NDT therapist identifies movement problems and, along with the family and client, sets achievable goals to improve function. (definition from https://www.ndta.org/Community/Frequently-Asked-Questions)

For more information please visit https://www.ndta.org/