Dr. Stanley Greenspan dies, founded Floortime and developmental approaches to autism therapy

Mike Frandsen

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At last November’s annual Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders conference in Bethesda, Maryland, Dr. Stanley Greenspan was walking and talking a little bit slower than he had in previous years. The reverence and respect that the audience had for Greenspan was palpable, and at the end of his speech, the crowd gave him a standing ovation. The people in the audience knew they were witnessing something special.

Greenspan, the founder of Floortime and the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based model (DIR) for autism, died yesterday.

Greenspan established the ICDL in Bethesda to advance the identification, prevention, and treatment of developmental and learning disorders. A message on ICDL’s website calls Greenspan, “the world's foremost authority on clinical work with infants and young children with developmental and emotional problems. His work continues to guide parents, professionals and researchers all over the world.”

Greenspan was also the former director of the National Institute of Mental Health's Clinical Infant Development Program and Mental Health Study Center in Bethesda. A graduate of Harvard College and Yale Medical School, Greenspan was brilliant but also had an extraordinary ability to relate to parents and especially their children with developmental disabilities.

Greenspan showed he was ahead of the curve in identifying the importance of emotional development in children in 1985 when he published his first book, “First Feelings: Milestones in the Emotional Development of Your Infant and Child.”

Full article here on Examiner