We chose play from Affect Autism

This episode we are covering intensives at ICDL's DIR® Institute in New Jersey where families come for a week to just do Floortime and get Floortime parent coaching. My guests are two mothers of two children each. Daniela Bishop is in the Toronto area like me and Samantha Moran is from Colorado. Daniela is a registered nurse who has an 9-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old autistic son. Samanth...

This episode my guests are Educator Becky Gottlieb who is the Floortime Intensives Program Coordinator at  ICDL’s DIR® Institute in New Jersey , and Occupational Therapist,  Gretchen Kamke , who is  ICDL’s Accreditation Coordinator . Both are Expert  Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR ® )  Training Leaders who teach  certificate courses  and mentor professionals as part...

My returning guest is Dr. Colette Ryan , an Infant Mental Health Specialist who is an DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader and part of a group starting up a new Floortime school in Toyko Japan, The Neurodiversity School , as the Floortime Supervisor. Today we are covering a topic near and dear to Colette’s heart, parent self-efficacy, the topic of her recent PhD dissertation. She recently presente...

There’s been a lot of talk about how autistic girls are not recognized and diagnosed and on social media around many women being diagnosed as autistic after their children are diagnosed. Dr. Robert Naseef has been diagnosing children and adults with autism since 2008 and especially after the pandemic, he has seen an increase in females seeking diagnosis. This episode we discuss diagnosis and examp...

I am absolutely thrilled to have returning guest, Educator Kasheena Holder back, who is a DIRFloortime® Expert and Training Leader with the International Council on Development and Learning and owner and director of Legacy , an inclusive school in Barbados where about 60 percent of her students are neurodivergent and about 40 percent are neurotypical. Link to the show notes with links to key discu...

Brookes Barrack is a Speech-Language Pathologist and DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader who has a clinic just outside of Kansas City, Kansas with Occupational Therapist Emily Tritz called Kansas City Developmental Therapies where they offer DIR® services . This summer they became an official accredited DIR® Organization . She originally trained in Floortime at "the Bunker" with Drs. Greenspan an...

Kerri Ciskowski is a DIRFloortime® Expert and Occupational Therapist in central New Jersey who does in-home support through her service Therapy Keeper for families who are typically raising autistic kids. Today we’re talking about in-home Floortime coaching which supports parents in unpacking "behaviours" and finding connection and joy with their neurodivergent children. Link to the show notes wit...

ToniAnn Loftus is DIRFloortime® Expert and Speech-Language Pathologist. She trained at the Rebecca School and now owns and operates Seaport Speech and Feeding , a clinic in Manhattan. Today we are discussing inclusion in schools with a specific focus on speech and language and how she can bring the  Developmental, Individual differences, and Relationship (DIR®) Model into the classroom to make it...

The topic of this episode is trauma through a DIR® lens. Maude Le Roux recently did a course on this topic through the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) and here she covers how to work with trauma clients through the Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs). This complements the previous trauma-related podcast episodes I’ve done with Galina Itskovich , and Erin...

The topic of this episode is to give an overview and review of Functional Emotional Developmental Capacity (FEDC) 4 of the Developmental, Individual differences, and Relationship (DIR®) model from last episode, an overview of the FEDC 5, and to discuss how one moves through FEDC 4 into FEDC 5. Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode her...

The topic of this episode is Functional Emotional Developmental Capacity (FEDC) 4 of the Developmental, Individual differences, and Relationship (DIR®) model , based on the presentation our guests in March at the New York City DIR® conference called, "The Spectrum of FEDC 4". Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: https://affecta...

This episode we are discussing intentionality in Functional Emotional Developmental Capacity (FEDC) 3, which is called "Intentionality and Two-Way Communication" in the Developmental, Individual differences, and Relationship (DIR®) model , and moving from FEDC 3 into FEDC 4, "Complex Communication and Shared Problem Solving ." Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other wa...

This episode our topic is one that is a top request by parents: sleep. Although neither this episode's guest nor I are sleep experts, we want to come at the topic from a Floortime lens and present some helpful information. My guest is Colette Ryan , an Infant Mental Health Specialist, who is finishing up her PhD with Fielding University on the topic of parent self-efficacy–which we will podcast ab...

I’m speaking with Marla Cable, the Assistant Director of the Resource and Training Centre at Giant Steps Autism Centre in Montreal, Quebec, which houses the developmental approach, individualized private school in the public interest with both English and French instruction, serving students aged 4 to 21 with an autism diagnosis. We heard about the school just over a year ago, but they have now mo...

Andrew Klein is a  DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader  and a pediatric Occupational Therapist at  Emerge Pediatric Therapy  in Durham, North Carolina where he has a specialized role in facilitating reflective supervision with his colleagues. He is also a certified trauma professional through  PESI . He started his career at  the Rebecca School  in Manhattan where his  Floortime  journey began an...

Our topic this episode is DIRFloortime® in medically complex children with guests DIR® Speech-Language Pathologists Erin Forward and Taylor Anderson. Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: ⁠https://affectautism.com/2024/05/10/trauma-informed-care/⁠ Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network or becoming an Affect Autism member for b...

This episode features Floortime parent advocate Kim Kredich who has served as a volunteer advocate for hundreds of students with disabilities in East Tennessee, working with families to help their children gain rightful, supported inclusion in the general education environment in public schools through the IEP process. She has worked closely with attorneys in Tennessee to promote systemic change a...

This episode features DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader Nagwa Khedr, who is an early intervention specialist in Cairo, Egypt. She's been practicing DIRFloortime® since 2014 and was involved recently in opening a DIRFloortime® Center there called Etwasel , which means ' Connect ' in English. We met in person last year at the in-person DIR® International Conference in New York City and have been...

This episode showcases   If I Need Help , a non profit that reunites those who might become lost, disoriented, or need assistance in a critical moment with their families, loved ones, and caregivers using modern technologies in practical, accessible, and affordable ways--so providing assistance for our loved ones with communication differences. I have purchased their products since 2016 and I welc...

This episode features returning guests,  Special Educator Jackie Bartell  and  Speech Language Pathologist Bridget Palmer  who are both  DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders  and  teach courses at ICDL . Amy McMunn is the mother of two young adult autistic sons and a  Spelled Communication Practitioner . The topic is presuming competence, one of the pillars of the  DIR® model  and  DIRFloortime®...

This episode, returning guest and Occupational Therapist Stephanie Peters , DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader and Clinical Director with Kinder Growth , discusses the developmental considerations around sharing. Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: http://affectautism.com/2024/03/01/sharing Consider joining our DIR® Parent N...

This episode, Speech-Language Pathologist Sabrina O'Keefe, DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader, discusses Gestalt Language Processing within a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®)  framework, which listeners have been requesting for a long time! Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: https://affec...

On this edition of  Parent Perspectives   from  Affect Autism , we have a discussion with a mother and grandmother of an autistic son and grandson about navigating her support roles. Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: https://affectautism.com/2024/02/02/roles Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network or becoming an Affect Auti...

On this edition of  Parent Perspectives   from  Affect Autism , we have a parent discussion with an autistic parent of two autistic daughters about parent self-regulation with some great examples. Link to the show notes with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the episode here: https://affectautism.com/2024/01/19/self-care Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network or becom...

This episode, I bring you the live recording we did at the  International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL)  2023 International DIRFloortime® Conference where I interviewed  Dr. Ira Glovinsky  who is a Clinical Psychologist in Michigan at  The Glovinsky Center for the Child and Family , using a  Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®)  framework. We discussed the...