PHOTO CREDIT: Caleidoscopio
On this Episode…
Carolina Sosa Carrero is an educator in music, movement, and language with a Master’s degree in early intervention and child development. She is a very enthusiastic student of regulation and communication (having taken a Gestalt language course with Marge Blanc). She uses puppets and theatre in her clinic with families. She is the first DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader in Ecuador! Gaby Cabezas has a Communications and Literature degree with a Master’s in English Language. She is currently working as an English teacher and writes science fiction. Caro and Gaby are both neurodivergent and very enthusiastic about DIRFloortime®! Their goal is to spread DIR® to the Spanish-speaking world through Caro’s work and their new podcast, Ecos Neurodivergentes!
You can also subscribe on your preferred podcast app by searching, “We chose play from Affect Autism”
Discovering Floortime
Caro discovered Floortime in university from a teacher which led to her training with ICDL. During COVID, she took the DIR 202: Certificate of Proficiency Course, her trainer was Gaby Michaca in Mexico and Caro decided to get mentoring with her. She also opened her own clinic.
She then invited Gaby to Ecuador to teach a DIR 101: An Introduction to DIR® and DIRFloortime®, and invited music therapist and influencer, Samuel Cartaya to build attendance, and it was a success. This summer, now that Carolina is a DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader, she co-taught her own DIR 101 with Gaby in Quito, Ecuador.
Gaby adds that she was helping Caro edit her dissertation and would hear about Floortime. She was drawn to it because Ecuador is a developing country and people don’t really talk about autism. She’s also seen Caro work with children and was impressed. She has also had the chance to see a teenager who had years of Floortime with Caro, realizing how much it helped him. Gaby continues that she has chronic pain and anxiety that has not yet been integrated in her body. She wonders what would have happened if she had DIRFloortime® growing up. She is in awe of what it does for children.
The Ecos Neurodivergentes Podcast
Caro says that her and Gaby have been friends since their teen years and they both discovered they’re both neurodivergent as adults. They end up discussing their lived experiences and decided to do a podcast where they could talk about these neurodivergent experiences, along with discussing DIR® in Spanish. Caro wants to spread DIR® in Spanish so more families and professionals know about DIR and have this support. They hope to build community with this podcast as well and to offer an alternative to behavioural therapies.
The podcast is called “EcoNeurodivergentes” which means “Neurodivergent Echoes” and the DIRFloortime® part will be called, “Tejiendo Relaciones” which means “Weaving Relationships” in Spanish. Caro adds that they also want to talk about the research behind DIRFloortime® and how relationships and play are science. They also want to promote respect for the autism community with a neuroaffirming lens.
Caro supports families and children in her work and she sees how they need support about how to relate with their children, understand their unique profile, understand where they are developmentally in order to meet them where they’re at, and how impactful the relationship is.
I also talked about how there’s been an explosion of podcasts discussing lived experiences of autistic adults:
- Divergent Conversations
- The Neurodivergent Experience
- Neuroshambles
- The Autistic Culture Podcast
- Meet My Autistic Brain
My new podcast with my colleague at ICDL, Turrell Burgess, Autistic Viewpoints, is another.
Applying the DIR® Framework to Adult Personal Development
I shared how I talked about wanting to develop something that looks at adult personal development through a DIR® lens. Caro also thinks of DIR® in this way. She realized her own constrictions in regulation and communication as she studied DIRFloortime®. In being self-reflective it has changed her personal life as well as her professional life. DIR® has influenced her to be authentic in her own style using puppets, drama, and art: her “I” (individual difference). Gaby says that she loves visiting Caro’s office and using the sensory swings.
The Power of Relationships
I provided some examples from my new book, We Chose Play: Raising an Autistic Child to Thrive and Feel Understood about attuning to your child and understanding each other’s profiles to promote connection. The ruptures and repairs in our relationships build them, Caro says. She wants to share how powerful relationships are in development. She adds that because communication is so relational, you need to know the child’s interests and profile and how exciting it is that you can do Floortime everywhere once you understand this.
I see the gleam in Caro’s eye when she talks about Floortime. I talked about how growing up, children are so vulnerable to making up stories about how they perceive others treat them and it can be so positive when adults, including teachers, understand you and it promotes your learning. Caro is so grateful for her teacher, Gaby Michaca, who saw something cooking inside Caro which supported and inspired Caro to open her own clinic.
Caro and Gaby hope that others join them in this endeavour. They hope that the knowledge of DIR® also spreads to schools. I shared that I’ll link to the episode about Senderos, the new school in Merida, Mexico. Gaby says that they hope to build a community. I shared how supportive that is when you feel so isolated and different and are misunderstood. Being a part of a community where you can feel like you belong is so powerful.
This episode’s PRACTICE TIP:
Let’s think about families we know who speak Spanish or friends of friends who do, and pass on this episode in Spanish to them.
For example: Do you interact with autistic families and see some who speak Spanish sometimes? Tell them there is a new Spanish podcast and Instagram posts that might interest them. Send them the links. Let’s build community so Spanish speakers are not left out of the conversation.
Thank you to Caro and Gaby for sharing their thoughts and ideas with us about spreading DIR® to the Latin communities of the world. I hope that you enjoyed this episode and will share it on social media! And don’t forget that it’s also available in Spanish!
Until next time, here’s to choosing play and experiencing joy every day!
