How does “floor-time” interaction prepare children for mainstreaming?”
One of the challenges in comparing different approaches to intervention is that the goals and measures of success can be quite different. The goal of floor-time is not (primarily) to create appropriate behaviors in a child, nor is it to get a child mainstreamed. Instead, the primary goal is to create sustained two-way communication, which will then lead a child up the developmental ladder. As the child becomes better able to interact with others, he or she will begin to understand the common context for relating that most of use share. This developing motivation and understanding will help the child take his or her part in the community, which ultimately will mean being in a mainstream school setting. Consequently, when I engage in therapy with a child, I am just as interested in helping the child be as highly functional as possible. I currently believe that many children have the potential to recover completely, or nearly so. I do not, however, see my job as mainstreaming a child. The
