An interventional study of DIR/Floortime™ and Standard therapy in Intellectual Developmental Disorder, sponsored by GIFT University. Completed at 1 site in Pakistan. Open to participants aged 4 Years to 12 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-13.
Sponsored by GIFT University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
This randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Integrated Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR)/Floortime™ intervention in improving functional emotional development and adaptive behavior in children with Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD). Participants aged 4-12 years will be randomly assigned to receive either DIR/Floortime™ in addition to standard therapy or standard therapy alone for 10 weeks. Outcomes will be assessed using the Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS).
Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD) is characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior, affecting conceptual, social, and practical skills. Although conventional therapeutic interventions support developmental progress, many children continue to experience challenges in communication, social interaction, daily living skills, and functional emotional development. The Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR)/Floortime™ model is a relationship-based intervention designed to enhance emotional, social, and developmental capacities through child-led interactions.
This study is a parallel-group randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of Integrated DIR/Floortime™ in children with IDD. Participants aged 4-12 years will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group receiving DIR/Floortime™ in addition to standard therapy or a control group receiving standard therapy alone. The intervention will be delivered over a period of 10 weeks.
The primary outcomes include communication, socialization, daily living skills, and functional emotional development. These outcomes will be measured using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS) and the Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) at baseline and after completion of the 10-week intervention. The findings will contribute to the evidence regarding the effectiveness of DIR/Floortime™ for children with Intellectual Developmental Disorder.
388 studies on the registry are indexed under Intellectual Disability; 106 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 24 is below the median of 59 across 249 interventional studies indexed under Intellectual Disability.
Browse Intellectual Disability studies →GIFT University is the lead sponsor of 8 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
DSM diagnostic criteria
The American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental health diagnoses. DSM-5 (2013, revised as DSM-5-TR in 2022) replaced DSM-IV, and some studies still name the older edition. “Meets DSM criteria for …” means diagnosed by that edition’s diagnostic criteria, usually by a clinician in an interview.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants receive Integrated DIR/Floortime™ in addition to their routine standard therapeutic services for 10 weeks.
Behavioral: DIR/Floortime™
Participants continue to receive routine standard therapeutic services without the addition of DIR/Floortime™ for 10 weeks.
Behavioral: Standard therapy
Integrated Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR)/Floortime™ intervention delivered for 10 weeks in addition to standard therapy
Routine therapeutic services provided without DIR/Floortime™ during the 10-week study period.
Communication Skills
Change in Communication Skills measured using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (VABS-3), Communication domain Growth Scale Values (GSVs). GSVs range from 10 to 197, with higher scores indicating better adaptive functioning.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 10
Socialization Skills
Change in Socialization Skills measured using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (VABS-3), Socialization domain Growth Scale Values (GSVs). GSVs range from 10 to 197, with higher scores indicating better adaptive functioning.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 10
Daily Living Skills
Change in Daily Living Skills measured using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (VABS-3), Daily Living Skills domain Growth Scale Values (GSVs). GSVs range from 10 to 197, with higher scores indicating better adaptive functioning.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 10
Functional Emotional Development
Change in functional emotional development measured using the Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS). FEAS items are scored from 0 to 2, with higher scores indicating better functional emotional development. Symbolic, Sensory, and Examiner scores are assessed.
Time frame: Baseline and Week 10
Plan to share: No — Individual Participant Data (IPD) will not be shared. The study involves confidential data from children with Intellectual Developmental Disorder, and participant privacy and confidentiality will be protected in accordance with institutional ethical approval and informed consent.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Ran from Mar 2026 to primary completion in Jul 2026, 3 months.
Of 155 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Intellectual Disability, half reached primary completion within 18 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 36. This study's 3 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 158 studies reached it within 19 months; a quarter within 7 and three quarters within 36.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
GIFT University