or peers. As an added efficiency measure, Individualized Educational Plans (IEP) can be collaboratively created and tailored for a child by his or her primary caregivers, teachers, or clinician. The IEP is developed with the purpose of outlining the goals of improvement for a child's specific developmental needs. Another component of the DIRFloortime Model Intervention is a multi-disciplinary approach through different therapies. According to a child's Individual Developmental Profile, primary caregivers or clinicians can determine what types of therapy will benefit a child based on his or her developmental need. . Greenspan highly recommends the use of adjuvant therapies including Speech Therapy, provided by Speech Language Pathologists, and Sensory Integration Therapy, provided by Occupational Therapists. As a child's primary occupation is play, Occupational Therapy is a particularly relevant field to the Floortime Method. The final intervention component of the DIRFloortime Model is Play Dates. While it is extremely important for a child to develop strong and healthy relationships with his or her primary caregiver(s), it is also essential to encourage play dates with other children. However, this step must be taken when the child is able to securely interact with others and is beginning to build his or her capacity for imitation and problem-solving skills. Effectiveness In 2020, Boshoff et al. concluded in their systematic review over nine studies that an increase in children's socio-emotional development is observed through various outcome measures and consistent with the focus of the model. Other areas of development have received limited focus by existing studies. The effectiveness of Floortime was examined in four randomized controlled trials in which the control group receive the usual therapies (e.g., speech therapy, occupational therapy). Because of various methodological limitations, these studies were deemed to provide "weak support" to Floortime as a therapy for autism. Language function in the Floortime groups did not improve beyond what was observed in the controls. No adverse effects of Floortime have been reported. References Further reading Treatment of autism