Aha Connections - Providing DIRFloortime for young children

09/03/2025

🌟Excellent reminder as everyone heads back to school! 🌟 (amazing calendar by - a gift that reminds me of an amazing family 😊)

Child-led play is where the magic happens!
When we follow a child’s lead, we step into their world—where imagination blooms, confidence grows, and true connection is built. It’s not about directing, but about discovering together. In those playful moments, children feel seen, heard, and empowered to shine as their authentic selves.

This is your invitation to join the movement. A call to parents, educators and therapists. Staring today, let the child guide the way. Especially as we start the new year at school to help children feel safe, comfortable, respected, and to build that guiding relationship. Challenge yourself to follow their curiosity not the plan!

Give it a try and share your experiences in the comments.

08/22/2025

✨ Weekend Tip: Communicate in a Different Way ✨ - Rethink Communication

This weekend, try:
💬 Using fewer words
🤲 Adding more gestures & affect
🗣️ Making comments instead of questions
⏸️ Pausing to give your child space

💡 Why it works: These small changes reduce pressure, invite curiosity, and help your child feel understood. Connection grows when we slow down and communicate with warmth. 💙

Try out these strategies this weekend and share your reflections below ⬇️

08/15/2025

✨ Weekend Floortime Tip ✨

This weekend, try a “Mini Adventure” with your child!

How to do it:
Let your child lead the play—whether it’s building blocks, racing toy cars, or making a blanket fort. Join in, mirror their actions, and lean into their ideas. Resist the temptation to change their idea.

Why it works:
Following your child’s lead builds connection, sparks communication, and helps you understand their world.

Try it this weekend and see the magic of connection unfold!

Share where your adventure took you⬇️

08/13/2025

This week’s I Wonder Wednesday
✨What are some simple DIRFloortime® tips I can try today?

You don’t have to completely change your routine to bring DIRFloortime® into your day.
Even small, intentional moments — like joining your child’s play or giving them a pause to respond — can create meaningful connection and engagement.

These five simple shifts are easy to try anytime: during play, at mealtime, or even while getting ready for bed. Connection grows in the little moments. These shifts can make a big difference in connection and engagement:

1️⃣ Follow your child’s lead
2️⃣ Get face-to-face
3️⃣ Pause before responding
4️⃣ Celebrate all communication
5️⃣ Stretch the play

You don’t need to be an expert to start — connection grows in the little moments you share.

08/11/2025

Help Share: Aha Connections is Now Accepting New Families

As we near the end of the summer season, I wanted to share that Aha Connections is now enrolling for September.

At Aha Connections, we specialize in the DIRFloortime® model—a play-based, child-led approach that focuses on meeting each child’s unique developmental needs through meaningful emotional connections and guided interactions. We provide sessions in-home and in the clinic, as well as, community visits and playgroups. No matter where we meet, we create meaningful opportunities for connection, learning, and growth - tailored to each child’s individual needs. We are dedicated to creating meaningful connections through compassionate, individualized support that empowers each child’s unique journey and helps families thrive together.

If you know a family that may benefit from the relationship-based, play-focused services we offer at Aha Connections, I would greatly appreciate you sharing our information with them. We are located in Billerica MA and service many of the surrounding towns.

More information can be found at

Discover Aha Connections in Billerica, providing DIRFloortime for children 0-5.

08/07/2025

Why Choose Aha Connections?

At Aha Connections, we do more than provide services—we build relationships that help your child grow. Rooted in the DIRFloortime® approach, our work is personalized, respectful, and developmentally grounded.

Here’s why families choose us:
🌟 Individualized Support: We tailor each session to your child’s unique strengths, challenges, and interests.
💬 Social-Emotional Focus: We nurture emotional regulation, connection, and communication through play.
🏡 Flexible Options: Sessions are available both in-home and at our welcoming clinic.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Family-Centered: We partner with you every step of the way—offering guidance, strategies, and encouragement.

Choose Aha Connections and give your child a space to be seen, heard, and truly supported.
💙 Now enrolling | www.ahaconnections.org
® 💙

08/06/2025

I don’t post pictures of myself often but I thought this one would be fun and maybe a little educational. (Maybe a unicorn to some)

A DIRFloortime Provider and an ABA Provider - friends and colleagues for over 28 years. Yes, it is possible! actually introduced me to Floortime 25ish years ago. (If I never said thank you - thank you Lynne.)

We continued supporting autistic children on two different paths but always remained friends and colleagues focusing on the same goal - to help each child grow and thrive to their fullest potential.

Some tips on how colleagues can collaborate effectively:

We can see shared goals through different lenses. We respectfully communicate, acknowledge philosophical differences and are open to learning from each other. We reflect on the past and have visions for the present. We recognize parents should have a choice, sometimes wanting a hybrid approach. We are open to collaboration, are flexible, and our goal is to help each child grow and thrive to their fullest potential.

Providers who are open to other models tend to collaborate more successfully.

✨Collaborate with curiosity rather than competition✨
























®

08/06/2025

This week’s I Wonder Wednesday explores how using fewer words during a DIRFloortime session can create more space for a child’s ideas, initiative, and engagement—sometimes silence speaks the loudest!

When we slow down and give room for silence, children have more time to process, respond, and take the lead in play. This can open the door to deeper engagement, shared joy, and those magical “Aha” moments. 😉

Try This:
During your next play session, choose one activity and limit yourself to just a few key words. Use your face, body, and gestures to communicate instead. Notice how the child responds—do they initiate more? Stay engaged longer?

Reflect on your experience ⬇️

08/04/2025

Reflection gives us space to slow down, observe without judgment, and respond to our child’s needs with empathy. It helps us tune into not just what is happening, but why—so we can meet our children where they are, not where we expect them to be.

When we reflect, we become more present. And presence is the foundation of trust, regulation, and emotional growth—for both the child and the parent.
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07/31/2025

Reflective Practice in DIR/Floortime: A Tool for Growth, Connection, and Compassion

DIRFloortime is a relationship-based approach that values emotional connection as the foundation for all learning and development. But what helps adults stay attuned, flexible, and responsive to children’s needs in the moment? The answer is reflective practice.What Is Reflective Practice?Reflectiv...