A Victory for Floortime

A January 18 post involved the effort of some families in Los Angeles County to get funding for Floortime. The Los Angeles Times reports:

Families of children with autism in eastern Los Angeles County appear to have prevailed in a fight to maintain state funding for a popular therapy for the disorder.

More than 2,200 families received notice this week of a preliminary settlement in a class-action lawsuit that, if approved by a judge, would force the Eastern Los Angeles County Regional Center to continue to provide the treatment, known as the DIR model (for "developmental, individual difference, relationship-based").

DIR is the basis for Floortime, a popular method in which a therapist follows a child's lead during play activities to develop communication and social skills.

Floortime Setback in CA

The Los Angeles Times reports:

Families with autistic children in eastern Los Angeles County have filed a class-action lawsuit against the nonprofit agency that provides them with state-funded services, alleging that it had illegally discontinued their therapy for the disorder.

The agency, the Eastern Los Angeles County Regional Center, informed more than 100 families late last summer that their children were losing the therapy -- known as the DIR model, or "developmental, individual difference, relationship-based" -- as a result of state budget cuts.

The therapy is the basis for a popular treatment known as Floortime, in which a therapist follows a child's lead during play activities to build communication and social interaction skills.

Filing the suit were attorneys from Public Counsel and Gibson Dunn & Crutcher.

More on the suit here.