Understanding Neurodivergent-Affirming Care
Neurodivergent-affirming care begins with a simple but essential understanding: every person experiences the world differently, and no single therapeutic approach will meet everyone’s needs.
At Uniquely You Behavioral Health (UYBH), we seek to understand how neurodivergence is experienced by each individual. This includes recognizing the connections among physical and emotional development, identity, communication, relationships, and the environments in which a person lives.
We also consider how language, culture, race, gender, socioeconomic circumstances, accessibility, and lived experiences may influence a person’s needs—and how we, as providers, must show up in ways that are respectful, responsive, and supportive.
Our work is grounded in relationships. We focus on helping people strengthen their connection with themselves and others while supporting communication, emotional regulation, self-understanding, autonomy, and meaningful participation in daily life.
An Individualized and Flexible Approach
As UYBH has grown, we have continued to learn more about our organization, the clients and families we serve, and the communities in which we provide care. That growth has led us to refine how we describe and deliver our individualized approach to services.
Our therapists may draw from multiple therapeutic frameworks based on each client’s strengths, preferences, developmental profile, goals, culture, and lived experiences. Rather than asking a person to fit within one prescribed model, we adapt our care to the person in front of us.
This flexibility allows our therapists to remain curious, collaborative, and responsive. It also recognizes that a strategy that is helpful for one person may be ineffective—or even harmful—for another.
Our Use of DIRFloortime Principles
Many UYBH therapists have received training in DIRFloortime, a developmental, individual-differences, and relationship-based approach. DIRFloortime principles can help therapists understand how a person’s individual differences affect communication, emotional development, relationships, and participation in everyday life.
These principles may inform our work, particularly through meaningful interaction, shared interests, play, and relationship-based engagement. We appreciate the simplicity that the DIR language provides practioners and families to discuss and understand social emotional development. However, DIRFloortime is not the only framework our therapists may use.
UYBH is no longer an accredited DIRFloortime organization. This was an intentional decision reflecting our commitment to flexibility and individualized care. Although members of our clinical team may hold DIRFloortime training or professional credentials, UYBH does not require every client’s services to follow one prescribed therapeutic model.
We believe ethical, affirming care must remain responsive to the individual rather than prioritizing fidelity to a particular approach.
Our Position on Applied Behavior Analysis
UYBH does not provide or endorse Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).
ABA traditionally focuses on increasing behaviors considered desirable and decreasing behaviors considered undesirable through behavioral interventions, including reinforcement and, historically, punishment-based methods. Services are often delivered by Registered Behavior Technicians under the supervision of credentialed behavior analysts. Entry-level requirements for Registered Behavior Technicians include a high school education, a 40-hour training course, a competency assessment, and certification requirements established by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board.
Our concerns extend beyond the credentials of individual providers. We do not support approaches that prioritize compliance, normalization, or the elimination of behaviors without first understanding what those behaviors communicate and how they may help a person cope, regulate, establish boundaries, or navigate their environment.
A behavior may communicate distress, sensory overload, fear, unmet needs, a desire for connection, or a need for safety and autonomy. Attempting to change that behavior without understanding its meaning can overlook the person’s experience.
Instead, we seek to understand what is happening beneath the behavior. We work collaboratively with clients and families to develop supports that honor communication, consent, self-determination, sensory needs, emotional well-being, and authentic identity.
Relationship-Based Care Beyond the Therapy Room
Neurodivergent-affirming care is not limited to a scheduled therapy session. Supportive interactions can be incorporated naturally into everyday life—at home, at school, in the community, and during familiar routines.
Caregivers can play an important role in creating environments where neurodivergent individuals feel understood, respected, and safe. Through caregiver coaching and collaboration, families can learn to recognize individual communication patterns, respond to emotional and sensory needs, and build relationships rooted in connection rather than control.
Our goal is not to make neurodivergent people appear less neurodivergent. Our goal is to help each person better understand themselves, communicate their needs, build meaningful relationships, access appropriate support, and experience greater agency in their life.
At UYBH, individualized care means seeing the whole person—and allowing that person’s voice, identity, strengths, needs, and lived experiences to guide the work.
The Floortime Difference
Understanding DIR (Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based) Therapy: Also known as Floortime, this therapeutic approach is specifically designed to support autistic individuals and others with developmental disabilities in developing their social and communication skills.
DIR therapy is based on the understanding that all individuals have an innate desire to connect. By engaging in meaningful interactions and focusing on their strengths and interests, DIR therapy enhances their ability to relate and communicate.
At Uniquely You Behavioral Health, DIR therapy is delivered by therapists who hold at least a bachelor’s degree and have completed Level 1 training, ensuring they are certified to practice.
Parent coaching is expertly handled by Master Level Clinical Social Workers who hold an Advanced Practice Certificate in DIR, providing skilled and sensitive support to families.
ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy is a type of therapy that focuses on increasing desirable behaviors and decreasing undesirable behaviors in individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities.
It is based on the principles of behaviorism, which suggests that behavior can be modified through reinforcement and punishment. ABA therapy is typically provided by ‘Registered Behavior Therapists’ (RBTs). To become an RBT a person needs only a high-school diploma and 40 hours of training.
One key difference between ABA therapy and DIR therapy is the focus of the interventions. ABA therapy focuses on specific behaviors and uses reinforcement and punishment to modify those behaviors. In contrast, DIR therapy focuses on the overall development of the individual and uses interactions and play to build skills.
Floortime: All the Time, Everywhere Autistic children often benefit from continuous and intensive interaction to help overcome disabling aspects of their condition, such as limited spontaneous social initiation.
Floortime promotes the philosophy of “all the time, everywhere”—integrating therapeutic interactions throughout daily activities. Whether in the home, at the supermarket, or during routine activities like meals and bath time, Floortime can be seamlessly woven into various environments.
This inclusive approach allows for engagement with siblings, peers, and adults in numerous settings, supporting constant learning and development in natural contexts. With effective Floortime coaching, caregivers are empowered to facilitate these interactions, ensuring both the child and the caregiver find joy and value in their shared experiences.
