The following information is from the Autism National Committee at www.autcom.org.

Stanley Greenspan, MD's model of Autism/ Pervasive Developmental Disorder (which he prefers to call "multisystem developmental disorder") is thoroughly developmental. He faults most interventions for zeroing in on the initial problem area observed during diagnosis -- motor, sensory, behavioral, language, etc. -- rather than conceiving the child's challenge in terms of a broad set of developmental processes across all areas.

The strength of Greenspan's "Developmental/Individual Difference Model" is that it is not based on membership in a presumed group, such as PDD. Rather, it is based on an analysis of where in the normal sequence of development the individual child went off the track and on crafting a strategy for getting development back on track based on the child's individual differences, the familial and cultural patterns of the child's environment, and how they can best interact.

The typical Greenspan intervention revolves around a concept he calls "floor time" -- time which the caregivers, generally the parents, spend entering the child's activities and following the child's lead.

Of course, the larger and very serious game being played by the parent is to turn even what looks like random behavior into intentional acts that get a specific response, and thereby become the means of nudging the child's crucial affective development back on track.