Floor Time.....

      Developed by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, "floortime" is a unique process in that it teaches the parent how to be an active play partner with their child in an ordinary, everyday style of play that is both spontaneous and fun.  The principal of floortime is to follow your child's lead and play with whatever is of interest to your child, but the play is done in a way that allows both you and your child to interact with each other, therefore developing a time of engagement and communication. 

     The floortime approach can be used to teach many valuable life skills, such as ... Self Regulation, Interest in the World, Two-Way Communication, Turn Taking and Emotional Understanding.  Use of the floortime model here at The Dakota Center helps the child engage with others; both socially and emotionally, maintain Shared Attention with others and learn problem solving skills.

Social Thinking...

Counselors at The Dakota Center apply the “superflex curriculum” designed by speech language pathologist, Michelle Winner to each individual session.  This curriculum is started after the client is engaged and interactive with the counselor, typically the client is grade school age and verbal.  This curriculum has been proven to promote positive changes for children by not only teaching them social skills, but how to think socially and be flexible in their thought process, helping them to understand and interact in various social situations.  These skills WILL transfer outside of the therapy session to the classroom and to home allowing children to think independently offering them the opportunity to make and maintain friends and participate in social events.  Parents and teachers of each child are kept actively involved and updated.

            The curriculum uses specific characters that represent the negative social behaviors.  These Characters are named “unthinkables”. The child will be introduced to the “team of unthinkables” that challenges him/her daily with social difficulties.  A few examples of the unthinkable characters are “Rock Brain” (he makes kids stuck and unable to deal with change in routine).  “Glassman” (he shatters out of control in an instant).  “Space Invader” (he makes children get into another’s personal space).  There are 20+ characters to work with related to social deficits.  Then there is the superhero “superflex” and his super dog “bark”.  Each student learns and applies a flexible thinking strategy that will defeat the unthinkable character, allowing them to be the superhero, conquering their own behavior.

            Our Counselors use this curriculum as “the next step” from behavior strategies already in place to support children grow out of a consequence/reward system and into an understanding of how to socially interact.  This is done by teaching children social expectations and how to think socially throughout their day.  Prior to the session the counselor will ask the family to share social situations relevant to the child, that social situation will be the focus of the session.  Using the characters to teach in a fun and creative manner, your child will learn coping strategies for different social situations and how to become his/her own superhero.  Children will complete worksheets connected to each social situation discussed as well as be given a “fun sheet” to work on at home with their parent(s).

Social Stories...

      Developed by Carol Gray, "social stories" are short and positive stories that describe specific situations such as when to say please and thank you, how to stand in line, keeping our hands to ourselves and how to give a hug. These stories may also be used in teaching about classroom and family routines and changes in those routines.

     Carol Gray developed these stories originally to help individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders interact with others more successfully, her work has expanded and the stories are now used as a teaching tool for any person experiencing social difficulties. The stories will include information that help the child understand other people's feelings and how the child's interactions may affect the thoughts or feelings of others.

    Carol Gray's approach is used here at The Dakota center as a way to teach social understanding from the perspective of the child. We help the child identify a social situation and use positive and playful interactions to teach the child how to respond appropriately.