The Playground Approach (ALP) - Intensive course

About the Program

How does a relationship take place when words are not the central channel of communication? And what happens when intervention is not oriented toward interpretation, correction, or normalization of behavior, but toward creating the conditions in which communication can organize itself, expand, and develop within a relationship?

The Playground Approach (ALP) offers an integrative model for working within the communicative–relational space. The point of departure of the approach is the understanding that primary human communication does not begin with verbal or symbolic language, but with living dynamics of movement, rhythm, intensity, repetition, timing, and space. These dynamics constitute a foundational infrastructure for the emergence of relationship, regulation, and meaning, even before words appear.

The program is grounded in the conception of play as a developmental–relational space as articulated by Donald Winnicott, and in the understanding of primary communication through living qualities of action, movement, and time, as described by Daniel Stern. From within this framework, the Playground Approach operates through a clear communicative model based on the principles of listening, joining, and continuity. This model enables the creation of shared, real-time multisensory and cross-modal communication.

Autism, Communication, and the Emergent Joinment Space

The program focuses particularly on work with autistic children and adults, based on the understanding that autistic expression often takes place through non-verbal channels such as movement, action, repetition, sensory responses, and rhythmic patterns. Within the Playground Approach, these expressions are not understood as an absence of communication or as failures that require correction. Rather, they are approached as manifestations of an internal communicative logic that seeks joining, responsiveness, and continuity.

This perspective is aligned with the work of Laurent Mottron and Jamie Ward, who emphasize a strength-based understanding of autistic perception and cognition, and the importance of adapting the environment and relational context to the unique processing styles of autistic individuals.

Accordingly, intervention within the Playground Approach does not operate on the individual alone, but on the relational space itself: The Emergent Joinment Space. This space comes into being through the creation of real-time conditions of safety, regulation, and mutual understanding, allowing communication to organize and expand even in situations of communicative uncertainty or limited access to verbal language.

Mode of Work and Intervention

Within the Playground Approach, intervention unfolds through precise communicative actions: attentive listening to the living qualities of the interaction and accurate, intentional responsiveness in real time. These actions generate an experience of safety, of being understood, and of mutual understanding within the encounter. These conditions are identified by developmental research as foundational for regulation, learning, and development.

From relative stability and continuity within the relationship, a natural developmental process can emerge, without the need to impose predefined external therapeutic goals. Communication, regulation, and participation expand from within the interaction itself.

Origins, Development, and Implementation of the Approach

The Playground Approach emerged מתוך sustained fieldwork with children, adults, and professional teams, particularly in contexts where verbal communication is unavailable or insufficient. The early stages of development included applied work in special education settings in Israel and internationally, including systemic work in northern New Jersey in collaboration with Terzini-Hollar, an educational psychologist working at a systemic level within special education.

The methodological, pedagogical, and academic conceptualization of the approach was developed at a later stage in collaboration with Miriam Ben-Oz, a social worker, psychotherapist, and senior lecturer specializing in professional training and pedagogical methodology.

The Playground Approach was developed and is led by Keren Rosenbaum, whose work operates at the intersection of listening, communication, and creation, and who continues to lead the development of the model as a foundation for communicative–developmental practice.

Today, the Playground Approach is implemented by therapists, educators, and professionals in care and community-based settings in Israel and internationally, particularly in work with autistic children and adults and across the broader neurodiversity spectrum.

Origins, Development, and Implementation of the Playground Approach

The Playground Approach emerged from sustained fieldwork with children, adults, and professional teams, particularly in contexts where verbal communication was unavailable or insufficient. The approach was developed and is led by Keren Rosenbaum, whose work operates at the intersection of listening, communication, and creation, and who continues to develop the model as a foundation for emergent communicative–developmental practice.

Early stages of the approach’s development included applied work within special education frameworks in Israel and internationally, including systemic implementation in northern New Jersey in collaboration with Dr. Terzini-Hollar.

The methodological, pedagogical, and academic conceptualization of the approach crystallized at a later stage through collaboration with Miriam Ben-Oz, through an ongoing clinical, pedagogical, and theoretical dialogue.

Today, the Playground Approach (ALP) is implemented by therapists, educators, and community professionals in Israel and internationally, particularly in work with autistic children and adults and across the broader spectrum of neurodiversity.