A persistent challenge in autism early intervention involves identifying meaningful starting points for individualized planning when children’s patterns of play, participation, communication, sensory experiences, and social engagement differ from conventional developmental expectations. While developmental assessments provide valuable information, practitioners often require additional frameworks to understand how children engage with people, materials, environments, and experiences in everyday contexts. Curiosity Developmental Mapping (CDM) is a structured observational framework developed to generate a comprehensive understanding of children’s participation. The framework emerged through the integration of developmental science, play-based intervention literature, naturalistic developmental approaches, and clinical observation. CDM organizes observations through multiple interconnected lenses, including interests, play patterns, social participation, communication, sensory experiences, environmental preferences, relational interactions, and developmental processes. Rather than examining these lenses independently, CDM considers how they interact to shape children’s engagement within naturally occurring activities and contexts. The framework assists practitioners in identifying individualized entry points for learning and intervention by developing a multidimensional profile of the child’s participation. Particular attention is given to participation beyond conventional expectations, including diverse play styles, sensory preferences, social comfort zones, recurring schemas, and patterns of engagement. CDM proposes a shift from selecting activities based primarily on predetermined intervention targets toward using children’s existing interests, play patterns, sensory preferences, and participation styles as starting points for intervention planning and learning. By integrating developmental, social, sensory, communicative, and play-based lenses, CDM offers a structured approach for identifying individualized entry points for learning, participation, and inclusion across autism early intervention, educational, and community settings.

Irma Canut Gasperi is a Registered Behaviour Analyst and early intervention practitioner with over 25 years of experience working with autistic children, children with developmental and sensory needs, and their families. She is the co-founder of Organic Play and co-creator of Curiosity Developmental Mapping, a structured observational framework developed to inform individualized early intervention planning and inclusive early childhood education. Her work focuses on play-based intervention, developmental participation, inclusion, and family-centred practice. As a neurodivergent practitioner, she brings both professional and lived-experience perspectives to her work in autism, early intervention, and inclusion