Relationship Based Interventions
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A workshop for parents, teachers & healthcare
professionals caring for children on the Autism Spectrum
This workshop is a local and international interdisciplinary collaboration,
using DIR®:Floortime™ and Early Start Denver Models in treating the child
with challenges in engagement, relating and social-emotional development.
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PolkaSpot Early Intervention Centre and SPOTlight Trust SA in collaboration
with Profectum Foundation (USA) are delighted to welcome Dr. Gil Foley
(Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist) and Prof. Sima Gerber (Speech and
Language therapist) to South Africa.!
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Parents, teachers and healthcare professionals now have the opportunity to
share their vast experience in this ground-breaking multidisciplinary
approach to the treatment of children with developmental disorders including
those on the autistic spectrum.!
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This workshop will provide tools for the practical application of the
DIR®:Floortime™ model in occupational therapy, speech and language
therapy, mental health and classroom settings as well as in the home
environment.!
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Date
17th August 2014!
Time
08:30 – 17:00!
Venue
Juta Conference Centre, 21 Dreyer Street, Claremont, Cape Town!
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Early Bird Registration
R 600.00 (Before 18 July 2014)!
Late Registration
R 750.00 (Before 8 August 2014)!
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Preliminary Programme
Time
Event
08.00 – 08.30
Registration
08.30 – 09.00
Opening and Welcoming
09.00 – 10.30
An introduction to the
DIR®" Model!
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Speaker/s
Dr. Gil Foley and
Prof. Sima Gerber
10.30 – 11.00
Tea
11.00 – 12.00
A contemporary model of
Prof. Sima Gerber
assessment and !
intervention: The integration
of Developmental Language
Models and the !
Developmental Individual
Di#erence Relationship
Based (DIR®:Floortime™)
approach
12.00-13.00
DIR®" and Mental Health:
The Intersection of !
Psychodynamic and Play
Principles
13.00 – 14.00
Lunch
14.00 – 14.45
We follow two South African Kerry Wallace
children receiving
DIR®:Floortime™, and the
progress they made over 18
months as they climbed the
social-emotional !
developmental ladder.
14.45 –15.30
Overview of the ESDM
15.30 – 16.00
Tea
16.00 – 16.30
Panel Discussion
All Speakers
16.30
Closure
PolkaSpot Early
Intervention Centre
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Dr. Gil Foley
Noleen Seris
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About Our Speakers!
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Gilbert M. Foley, EdD
Associate Professor of School ClinicalChild Psychology, Yeshiva University
(New York)!
Gilbert Foley is an Associate Professor of
School Clinical-Child Psychology at Ferkauf
Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva
University and Coordinator of its Infancy and
Early Childhood Track. He consults to the
New York Centre for Child Development
where he developed and directed the
psychology internship program. Dr Foley
writes and lectures widely and teaches in
the major parent-infant programs in the New
York area and served as Faculty and
supervisor at the DIR model" Institute since
its founding in 1999.!
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Dr. Foley will be addressing us on the
topic:
DIR®!and Mental Health: The Intersection
of Psychodynamic and Play Principles!
“The Developmental-Individual di#erenceRelationship based (DIR®)" Model was
developed within a mental health matrix but
is applicable across disciplines.""It is guided
by relationship principles such as the
importance of emotional attunement,
attachment and the a#ective life, the idea of
a holding-environment as a crucible of
development and the central role of the
p a r e n t s . T h e t r e a t m e n t m o d a l i t y,
Floortime®, is solidly rooted in the
psychodynamic play tradition and can be
thought of as a downward extension of play
therapy for the pre-symbolic child. These
constructs will be examined as ideas,
principles of treatment and illustrated by a
case of a preschooler on the autistic
spectrum with whom DIR and
psychodynamic formulations and strategies
were successfully blended by an
occupational therapist and consulting
psychologist working collaboratively. A
combination of didactic, case material with
videos and participant discussion will
employed as instructional methods.”!
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Sima Gerber, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Associate Professor of Speech &
Language Pathology, Queens College
(New York)
Profectum Senior Faculty Sima Gerber is an
Associate Professor of Speech-Language
Pathology in the Department of Linguistics
and Communication Disorders of Queens
College, City University of New York. Dr.
Gerber has over 35 years of clinical
experience, specializing in the treatment of
young children with autistic spectrum
disorders. Dr. Gerber is on the Advisory
Board of the Interdisciplinary Council on
Developmental and Learning Disorders
(ICDL), the faculty of the DIR Model"Training
Institute, the faculty of the ICDL Graduate
School, the faculty of Profectum and the
Board of Directors of the New York Zero-toThree Network. Dr. Gerber has presented
nationally and abroad on the topics of
language acquisition and developmental
approaches to intervention for children with
challenges in language development. Dr.
Gerber is the recipient of the award for
Outstanding Service to the field of SpeechLanguage Pathology given by the New York
City Speech-Language-Hearing Association
and the Louis DiCarlo Clinical Achievement
Award from the New York State Association.
Dr. Gerber has received the Distinguished
Achievement Award from the New York
State Speech-Language-Hearing
Association and is a Fellow of the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association.!
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Prof Sima Gerber will be addressing us
on the topic:
A Contemporary Model of Language
Assessment and Intervention
The integration of Developmental Language
Models and the Developmental Individual
Di#erence Relationship Based
(DIR®:Floortime™) approach.!
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Kerry Wallace, M.Sc (OT)
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Clinical Director, PolkaSpot Early Intervention Centre (Cape Town)%
PolkaSpot Early Intervention Centre hosted
the first DIR:Floortime conference in SA in
2010. Kerry was on the SAISI Board from
1997 - 2009 and is a Sensory Integration
Treatment lecturer. She is qualified in Neurodevelopmental Therapy and NDT for Infants and completed a 2 yr Infant Observation through the Psychoanalytic Society of
S.A. and the Tavistock Clinic. Her Masters
dissertation examined OT-SI e&cacy with
autistic pre-school children from a variety of
socio-economic backgrounds. She founded SPOTlight Trust SA, which aims to provide much needed intervention in disadvantaged communities by empowering adult
caregivers and educators with tools to support children with special needs. SPOTlight
Trust has established an a&liation with Profectum Foundation, a US based organization that provides on-line training to parents,
teachers and health care professionals in a
variety of developmental, relationship based
intervention approaches, and SA members
benefit from preferential rates. Kerry has DIR
® : FCD™ certification through Profectum
Foundation.
Noleen Seris, M.A.
Clin.Psych.
Clinical Supervisor & Lecturer, UCT
(Cape Town)%
Noleen Seris is a Clinical Psychologist in
private practice. Her clinical work is diverse
as it encompasses long term psychotherapy
with adults, short term work with children on
the Autism Spectrum, psychometric
assessments, and some teaching and
supervision of the Clinical Psychology
Masters’ students at U.C.T.!
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Since 2011, Noleen has been training to
become an Early Start Denver Model
therapist. This model is a play based
therapeutic intervention used with children
on the Autism Spectrum. It is an eclectic
approach that uses a combination of
interventions.
About SPOTlight Trust SA
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Spotlight Trust SA is a non-profit organisation, comprising speech and
language therapists, psychologists and occupational therapists. We are
passionate about the future of the children of South Africa and believe that
we have the power, knowledge and expertise to make a di#erence by helping
those in vulnerable communities. !
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Our Three Tiered Approach
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Nationwide
Workshops
Through our
workshops, we hope to
raise awareness about
the DIR®:Floortime™
Model and it’s practical
application for children
with a wide range of
developmental
challenges. By doing
this, we empower
caregivers, parents,
teachers and therapists
by providing access to
world class intervention
approaches.
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Online"
Training
SPOTlight Trust SA is
the o#cial South
African A#liate to the
Profectum
Foundation.
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The Profectum
Foundation is a US
based non-profit
organisation dedicated
to advancing the
development of all
children, adolescents
and adults with special
needs. Profectum
embraces the DIR®/
Floortime™ Model at its
core and provides
world-class online
training programmes for
professionals, parents
and caregivers.!
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Community
Projects
The point of all of this,
is to take world-class
intervention approaches
and make it accessible
to every single child in
South Africa, even
vulnerable, orphaned or
neglected children.!
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Our current projects in
Khayelitsha and
surrounding areas,
include:
Assessment and early
intervention of children
with special needs.!
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Presenting skills
training workshops for
caregivers, teachers
and facilitators that
allows adults to support
children from the very
first session. We use
DIR®:Floortime™ as a
means to providing this
support. !
SPOTlight Members
have access to online
training through the
Profectum Foundation
at a deeply discounted Recruiting volunteers to
rate - an exclusive
assist us with our
opportunity for South programmes.
African parents and
professionals.
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Should you have any questions or require more information
regarding registration for online DIR® Training through the
Profectum Foundation, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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We value your involvement in our cause.!
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Tel
021 462 1508!
Email
info@polkaspot.co.za!
Web
www.polkaspot.co.za!
www.spotlight.org.za
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