Born to Be Free: Supporting Neurodivergent Clients to Learn, Play, & Thrive

In this episode we explore how our ideas about disability – both as a society and as individual therapists - can deeply impact a parent’s relationship with their child and the child’s own view of themselves. Our guest, Chelsea Wallaert, is an occupational therapist and PhD student in disability studies who is deeply passionate about helping parents have more equitable and positive experiences with...

In this episode, we explore neurodiversity-affirming social-emotional learning through video games and stories. Our guest, Vanessa Castañeda Gill. Vanessa is autistic and the founder of Social Cipher. Our conversation goes into why game-based learning works, and how we can teach some of the most important social and emotional lessons in our work with autistic clients. You can check out Social Ciph...

In this episode we explore the role of therapists in promoting positive sexual identity and reducing the risk of sexual assault for our clients. Our guest, Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez is an autistic  occupational therapist and educator working to promote an intentional identity-first approach to autism and OT. Promoting bodily autonomy starts with what we teach our youngest clients and how we treat t...

In this episode we explore how a comprehensive literacy framework can totally transform how we approach speech and OT goals around reading and writing. Our guest, Jane Farrall, is a speech pathologist and special educator with extensive training and experience in literacy. This episode covers how SLPs and OTs can support reading comprehension and writing development in the larger frame of literacy...

In this episode we dive into interoception, our ability to understand the messages we are getting from inside our bodies. Our guest, Kelly Mahler, makes the connection between interoception and truly neurodiversity-affirming therapy practices. Kelly Mahler presents internationally on interoception and has authored 12 resources, including The Interoception Curriculum. This episode covers how a deep...

In this episode, we talk about what it means to cultivate an authentic life together with our autistic clients, from early childhood through adulthood. Our guest, Maisie Soetantyo, is an openly autistic family and inclusivity consultant who founded the Autism Career Pathways. She’s worked with families for 3 decades and believes that nurturing one's autistic authenticity is a critical first founda...

In this episode with preschool director Corrie Price, we go into exactly how you can build neurodiverse, inclusive early childhood spaces from the ground up and from the top down. Corrie Price is a life-long advocate for children and families and the director of Evolve Early Learning, an inclusive preschool in Asheville, NC. For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit l...

In this episode with autistic AAC user Tiffany Joseph, we cover functioning labels, AAC access, how race intersects with disability in the autistic community, aggressive behaviors, and so much more. But the thread that runs throughout the conversation is empowering our clients to participate more authentically in their daily life. Tiffany Joseph, or TJ, is autistic and runs the Instagram and Faceb...

In this episode we deeply explore how therapists misunderstand kids who communicate using scripts, how traditional approaches just don’t work to support their language acquisition, and a totally new framework we can all use to support them in a meaningful way. Our guest, Alexandria Zachos, is a speech-language pathologist who has presented at ASHA and all over the world on delayed echolalia and ge...

Kat Harhai is a facilitator, educator, and writer, and currently works as the Neurodiversity Collaboration Facilitator at Bridges Learning System. She is multiply disabled and was late diagnosed as autistic as a young adult. Katrina Martin is the founder of Bridges Learning System. Katrina is fully dedicated to moving beyond the deficit-based model of education for autistic students and moving int...

Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez is an occupational therapist and educator working to promote an intentional identity-first approach to autism and OT. She’s also a mother to three neurodiverse children. In this episode, we explore Sarah’s experiences as an autistic mother, the types of supports that help her thrive in her daily routines, and her own process of self-advocacy. Then we apply this insight to...

Greg Santucci is an occupational therapist and the founder of Power Play Pediatric Therapy. Greg provides workshops and trainings to parents and professionals all over the country on compassionate, collaborative, and neuro-developmentally informed approaches. In this episode we talk about how restraint, seclusion, and behaviorism harm kids, and why they are more prevalent than we’d like to admit....

Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisk is autistic, a part-time AAC user, and a recent graduate from the interdisciplinary neuroscience program at the University of Rhode Island. In this episode, we talk about why and how part-time AAC use can support authentic participation for many autistic people. We also explore Alyssa’s insights on teaching AAC from Alyssa's perspective as an engineer, as a researcher, and...

Rachel Dorsey is an Autistic SLP in private practice, a consultant, and the creator of a new Learn Play Thrive course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students: A Neurodiversity-Affirming Approach. In episode 35, we cover the basics of the neurodiversity paradigm and why and how to write strengths-based goals. Rachel also gives us the inside scoop on her own journey towards neurodiversity-affirming prac...

Rachel Coley is an OT and mom of three kids, one of whom is autistic. She’s also the founder of CanDo Kiddo, where she gives strengths-based strategies for supporting infant development. In this episode Rachel and I talk about how her OT practice has grown and changed to embrace a neurodiversity-affirming, strengths-based approach. We dive into what it means to be strengths-based with very early d...

Moyna Talcer is an autistic occupational therapist and researcher who conducted a qualitative study on the sensory experiences of autistic mothers. Her findings have implications for the ways we support not only autistic mothers, but all autistic people, starting in childhood. For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit learnplaythrive.com For more episodes visit patreo...

Oswin Latimer is the founder and President of Foundations for Divergent Minds (FDM) and former Director of Community Engagement for the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN). In this episode, Oswin and I talk about the specific executive function strategies we can use to support our autistic clients’ participation in meaningful daily activities.  For show notes as well as in-person and livestreame...

Dr. Andrew Gordon is a cognitive neuroscientist specializing in memory, decision making, cognitive control, and misinformation research. This episode is a deep dive into a study conducted by Dr. Gordon and a team of researchers on how executive function differences really show up neurologically for autistic people. And what they found in the study wasn’t that autistic people had executive function...

Michelle Neuringer is mom to an autistic 6 year old and neurotypical 9 year old. She’s committed to deeply learning from and about her daughter throughout her parenting journey. Jane Sloan, who teaches Michelle's daughter, is a seasoned educator with a deep passion and gift for partnering with parents. Listen into the episode to discover what a collaborative parent / professional relationship comb...

Dr. Stephen Shore is an autistic advocate, consultant, writer, professor at Adelphi University, and adjunct professor at NYU. His work focuses on aligning best practice in supporting autistic people to lead fulfilling and productive lives. He’s a co-author of the book Ask and Tell: Self-Advocacy and Disclosure for People on the Autism Spectrum.  Join us in Episode 29 where we: Learn Dr. Shore’s st...

Timotheus Gordon Jr. blogs and posts on social media as The Black Autist. His posts center on autism acceptance, race, disability, and the latest news relevant for autistic people who are black, indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC).  Join us in episode 28 where we talk about:    Racism and exclusion within the disability community The stories of BIPOC autistic people interacting with police Real...

Kate McLaughlin, M.S., CCC-SLP (“The AAC Coach” on social media) is a Speech-Language Pathologist specializing in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for individuals with complex communication needs. She believes that autonomous communication, inclusion, and self-determination are fundamental human rights. Listen into this episode as we explore: The difference between autonomous and i...

Rachel Dorsey is Autistic and an ASHA-Certified Speech-Language Pathologist. Join us in episode 26 as we totally overhaul everything you thought you knew about the social skills of autistic people.  In this episode, we dive into: Rachel’s own experience as an autistic person with neurodiverse and neurodivergent friendships The subtle and insidious ways that OTs and SLPs are teaching our autistic k...

Elsbeth Dodman is an autistic artist, creative writer, and public speaker.  Tune into episode 25 where we talk about: Elsbeth’s own experience with autistic shutdowns, and the concrete strategies that helped her work through them Elsbeth’s brilliant reframe of what “Whole Body Listening” means and why autistic people are actually quite good at it What it looks like when we turn the mirror onto neu...

Kristy Forbes. Kristy is an autistic support specialist for neurodivergent people and their families and professionals. She is the founding director of both inTune Pathways and The Neurodivergent Co. Kristy is autistic with ADHD and a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile. She is also the mother to 4 autistic kids.  Listen into episode 24 where we explore: Kristy’s experience as a PDA autist...