Good Eval with Jake Greenspan

We met Jake Greenspan today (Dr. Stanley Greenspan's son). We had been waiting 1 year. Dr. Greenspan's book (Children with Special Needs) was the first book I ever read regarding autism. I was intrigued on Floortime. I later read "The Boy Who Loved Windows" and got sold on the idea that Floortime was a great therapy. But honestly, after reading the books and trying it on my own, I realized how hard it was to do. Kelly Dorfman, a nutritionist in the DC Metro area, told me that Dr. Greenspan's son had opened a DIR clinic and that I should go see him. When I called, the wait list was about 1 year. I added Jonathan's name and waited. But it finally came today.

Jake was great. We spent 3 hours with him and he was very detailed. He really observed Jonathan to the tiniest detail while he asked us questions and gave us directions. I must say that I learned a great deal today. He will send us a report in 2 weeks detailing his recommendations.

One thing that shocked me was that he thought that Jonathan was ready to start working on Milestone 6 (those of you who have read Dr. Greenspan's book - there are 6 milestones to development. DIR added a 7th). I was excited to hear that. He really engaged well with us and Jake and although his play skills are still rudimentary, they are there.

Overall, we had a great evaluation and I can't wait to get the report and plan our next steps. He mentioned that we need to do 6 to 8 20-min sessions a day with complex emotional thinking. Jonathan can open and close circles of communication, but we need to make it rather challenging. He needs this so he can start interacting with his peers.