PHOTO CREDIT: Mikhail Nilov
DIR® Dialogues
This marks the second edition of DIR® Dialogues from Affect Autism! This new podcast features Practitioner Panels–this one featuring five international DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders discussing Floortime around the world! DIR® Dialogues will be an addition to the usual podcasts. I hope you will enjoy them!
This Episode’s Highlights
Our guests covered cultural differences from North America to Europe and into Asia, and highlighted some of the differences in the Asian cultures with regards to societal and parents’ expectations of children, differences in affect, and how our American trainers have to fit themselves into the international cultures they work within. We also cover how Floortime is developing in these areas of the world.
You can also subscribe on your preferred podcast app by searching, “We chose play from Affect Autism”
This Episode’s Guests
My returning guests are Dr. Colette Ryan, an Infant Mental Health Specialist who is part of a group starting up a new Floortime school in Toyko, Japan as the Floortime Supervisor. Jackie Bartell is a retired Special Educator who teaches virtual courses for ICDL in both English and German in Europe, and has taught in-person courses internationally, currently working with an Asian training leader to bring Floortime to India. Naomi Wong is a Speech-Language Pathologist in Singapore who owns a clinic called Speech Therapy Adventures helping parents and children navigate their developmental adventure together.
My two first-time guests are Paula Pacheco who is a Speech-Language Pathologist, holds a master’s degree in developmental psychology, and is currently a doctoral student at the University of São Paulo conducting several research studies within the DIR® model. She also runs a development center in Brazil called Great Kids where around 100 children undergo DIRFloortime® therapy.
And finally, Megan King is the director and accredited early childhood key worker with Engaging Interactions, an early childhood development service on the central coast of New South Wales, Australia. Providing support under the family-centred, key worker model, Megan works with young children and adolescents with diverse abilities, promoting their development and inclusion in a variety of naturalistic settings, using a Floortime approach.
This episode’s PRACTICE TIP:
This episode let’s take a look at some of our specific family cultural practices that may be related to our parents’ countries of origina or simply of the country we live in.
For example: Is there an expectation in our family culture that children meet certain standards of performance or behaviour or academic success, for instance? What happens if our children cannot meet this expectation? Can we figure out ways to focus on their strengths and instead focus on their unique developmental trajectory?
A big “thank you” to this episode’s guests for agreeing to participate on the DIR® Dialogues panel and I hope that you found it a worthwhile listen. If so, please consider sharing it on social media!
Until next time, here’s to choosing play and experiencing joy every day!
Thank you to Toronto recording artist Ayria for the intro/outro song permission.
