Stanley I. Greenspan, a child psychiatrist who has written parenting books and developed the popular “floor time” technique for helping children with autism and other developmental disorders, died April 27 of complications from a stroke. He was 68, according to an article in The New York Times.
Floor time, special time allotted for child-led play with an adult, is used in special education classrooms and as part of early-intervention therapy. With floor time, Dr. Greenspan encouraged parents or teachers to let children lead them in play to encourage the children to use gestures and words to express what they want and build warm relationships, the Times article said.
Dr. Greenspan helped start a number of organizations focused on early-childhood development, including the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorder, and Zero to Three, according to his website.
To learn more about him and his work and contributions to the understanding of autism and its therapies, you can visit his website here.
