Affect Autism Blog Posts including Podcasts
Everything you need to know to implement and practice DIR/Floortime on your own
To browse all posts/podcasts by topic/category/guest/profession, go to the Start Here link.
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED BY PODCAST AND BLOG POST GUESTS ARE SOLELY THEIRS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF AFFECT AUTISM, DARIA BROWN, NOR ICDL AND ASSOCIATED PARTIES.
Guests: If you hold a DIR/Floortime certificate or are a caregiver using DIR/Floortime with your child(ren) and would like to be interviewed for a podcast or write a guest blog, please Contact Us.
A Developmental Approach to Toileting: Part 2
Alysha Paiaro, Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Occupational Therapist and the Assistant Director of Little Buddies Pediatric Therapy, Inc. DIR Occupational Therapy practice just outside Vancouver, British Columbia returns for Part 2 of...
A Developmental Approach to Toileting: Part 1
What parent doesn't ask about toileting issues when their child is on the spectrum? I don't think I've met a parent of an autistic child who hasn't struggled with toileting. But is it the child's issue or is it the parent's issue? Developmental, Individual...
Gross Motor versus Fine Motor Functions
Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert Training Leader and Occupational Therapist, Keith Landherr, is the founder and director of Little Buddies Pediatric Therapy, Inc. just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is also a PhD...
The Impact of Cognitive Load on Relating, Communicating, and Thinking
Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert Training Leader, Colette Ryan, is an infant mental health specialist, a doctoral student in Fielding University’s Infant...
The Rubber Band Metaphor in Floortime
FREE Insights this week!FREE Key Takeaways this week as a New Year bonus! Enter your email above for access!Happy New Year! To start off 2022, retired special educator, DIR Expert Training...
Sensorimotor Profiles in Floortime
Gretchen Kamke is an Occupational Therapist and DIR Expert Training Leader with the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) and is a Floortime coach in the DIR Home Program....
Identity Exploration and Finding Your Voice
Photo by Photo: Ameen Fahmy on UnsplashThis week's guest is Maribel Serrano Holder. She is a Floortime Speech and Language Pathologist in San Francisco who founded Logopedia Speech and Language...
The New Co-Reg Community
A few years back, I spoke with Dr. Stuart Shanker about DIR/Floortime and Self-Reg. Self-reg is a process for enhancing self-regulation by understanding and dealing with stress. Self-regulation...
Going Slower to Move Faster
Occupational Therapist and DIR Expert Training Leader, Maude Le Roux, of A Total Approach in Glen Mills, PA returns this week to discuss moving slower to move faster. Maude says there's the...
Critical Core: A Tabletop Role-Playing Game
Photo credit: Game to GrowCritical Core is a tabletop role-playing game scaffolded around the DIR/Floortime model. Critical Core's Director Virginia Spielmann, Occupational Therapist,...
KultureCity: Sensory Accessibility and Inclusion
Photo credit: KultureCityDOWNLOAD KEY TAKE-AWAYSI'm thrilled this week to welcome Dr. Michele Kong, the co-creator of the largest nonprofit on sensory accessibility and acceptance, KultureCity, and board member, Daniel Platzman, who is the drummer of the band, Imagine...
‘DIR’ Child & Family Counselling
This is Part 3 of our three podcasts featuring the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Floortime multi-disciplinary clinic, Professional Child Development Associates...
Feeding and Floortime
Julie Miller is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Occupational Therapist and the Clinical Director of Professional Child Development Associates (PCDA) in...
Creative Arts Through Music and Drama
Photo credit PCDAJuliana Ross is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Music Therapist and the Head of the Creative Arts Department at PCDA, Professional Child...
Constrictions in Developmental Capacities
unsplash-logoPhoto: Annie SprattReturning guests, Clinical Psychologist Kathy Platzman of Floortime Atlanta and Infant Mental Health Specialist Colette Ryan, both DIR/Floortime Expert trainers,...
Redefining the Autism Narrative: Part 2
This post is part 2 of redefining the autism narrative with two autistic self-advocates, Occupational Therapist Virginia Spielmann, the Executive Director of the STAR Institute in Colorado who...
Redefining the Autism Narrative: Part 1
This week we are redefining the autism narrative with returning guest, Occupational Therapist Virginia Spielmann, the Executive Director of the STAR Institute in Colorado who is also an Expert...
Positive Development
This week we're talking about a new company called Positive Development, which offers developmental therapies paid for by insurance, currently in Florida, New Jersey, California, and coming...
Virtual Floortime Coaching for Parents
This week we're talking about virtual Floortime coaching for caregivers, using the International Council on Development and Learning's 12-week virtual home program as an example. We will...
A Parent’s Experience of DIR/Floortime
Following up from last week, we’re talking Floortime Summer Camps with Occupational Therapist, Rosemary White, of The Offices of Rosemary White OTR/L & Associates, just outside of Seattle,...
DIR/Floortime Summer Camps
This and next week we're talking Floortime Summer Camp with Occupational Therapist, Rosemary White, of The Offices of Rosemary White OTR/L & Associates, just outside of Seattle, who is a...
Am I Neurodivergent Like My Child?
Developmental and clinical psychologist, Kathy Platzman from Floortime Atlanta, an expert on the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model and the Director of...
Creating Opportunities in Floortime
Photo: Myles TanReturning guest, Licensed Professional Counsellor and DIR Expert Training Leader, Mike Fields from Floortime Atlanta and Inneractions Therapy Services, joins us this week to...
Communication-Action-Affect (known as W-A-A) in Floortime
This week we revisit Dr. Stanley Greenspan's Words*-Action-Affect (W-A-A) concept with Marilee Burgeson, who recently wrote an ICDL Newsflash on the topic. In Building Healthy Minds, Greenspan...
Examining the Experience of Autistic Students in Higher Education
Photo is the property of Emile Gouws. EDU 360 is the school where Emile teaches.Senior Advisor to the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) where he also sits on the Board of...
Floortime Lifestyle
I'm so excited this week to have a superstar mother and daughter Occupational Therapy team, Mili Cordero and Joann Fleckenstein of Individual and Team Therapy Services in Atlanta, which is the...
Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) Devices
The Power of Purposeful Communication
This week Speech and Language Pathologist and DIR Expert Trainer Joleen Fernald, who also has her PhD, joins us from just outside of Tampa, Florida. She specializes in Selective Mutism and...
Enriching Sensory and Motor Experiences at Home
How has the pandemic impacted our children? What is better? What is worse? Occupational Therapist Robbie Levy wondered how to enrich the lives of the families she works with. At the NYC 2021...
Sensory Ingredients and Dynamic Responsivity
How has the pandemic impacted our children? What is better? What is worse? Occupational Therapist Robbie Levy wondered how to enrich the lives of the families she works with. At the NYC 2021...
Floortime is also Adolescent- and Adult-Led
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on UnsplashIn March, we talked about Floortime being child-led. This week's podcast is about how we can engage and communicate with an adolescent or adult using...
ADHD: A VAST Topic
unsplash-logoPhoto: Tyler LastovichSee below for this week's BONUS PODCAST with Mike Fields!This week, two returning guests discuss ADHD with me through a strengths-based lens. By focusing on...
Affect Depends on Interoception
FREE Preview this week into the weekly Insights video for Members where I share my insights from each podcast.It's a great pleasure having Dr. Ira Glovinsky back this week to discuss Dr. Lisa...
Neurodiversity-Affirming Care
Photo: Jason BlackeyeLicensed Clinical Psychologist, Alex Klein, joins us this week from Oakland, California where he is both in private practice and works at the Kaiser Oakland Medical Center...
Fostering Friendships Virtually Using Games
Hear my 'a-ha' moments each week by becoming a Member.This week's podcast is a recording of a presentation from the Rebecca School NYC DIR Conference from last month about forming friendships virtually during the pandemic. It is called, "Thank You for Being a Friend":...
Approaching Pre-Academics with Floortime
Colette Ryan returns this week to discuss how we can work on academics in Floortime. She is a Expert Training Leader in the Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR)...
Why Floortime is Child-Led
Dr. Stanley Greenspan stressed allowing the child to be the director of play in Floortime. This includes when we want promote the child's flexibility over their frustration when things...
Humour Development in Autism
This week we have a new guest. Developmental Psychologist and clinical Social Worker Dr. Cindy Puccio an ICDL Clinical Consultant and a longtime DIR practitioner and Expert Training Leader....
Combining DIR/Floortime and Sensory Integration
This week I welcome back Stephanie Peters and a new guest, Courtney St. Germain. Both are Occupational Therapists who are Expert DIR/Floortime Training Leaders at ICDL's DIR Institute in...
Co-regulation is the Driver for Sensory Integration
BONUS for Members this week: Insights video plus extended podcast contentKeith Landherr is our guest on this week's podcast to talk about how emotional regulation is the driver for sensory...
Emotion seeking and saying “No!”
This week's topic stems from my take-aways from my family's visit to The Floortime Center almost five years ago when Jake Greenspan told us that attention seeking behaviours are actually...
Supporting Parents in the Process of Accepting Reality
Returning this week as our guest is Dr. Joshua Feder, a child and family psychiatrist in Solana Beach, California using the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR)...
A Self-Advocate’s Inspiring Journey
Emile Gouws joins us this week as Affect Autism's first interview with a self-advocate! Emile is a special educator, a PhD student, vice chairman of the National Executive Committee of...
Good Autism Education is just Good Education
This week, Dr. Gil Tippy returns to talk about how Good Autism Education is just Good Education. His new book chapter will appear in the same upcoming book that we heard Dr. Gerry Costa...
Building Relationships in the Practice of Palliative Care using DIR/Floortime
This week we have a panel to discuss broadening the scope of DIR/Floortime to a larger audience. After attending the 2020 DIR/Floortime conference presentation entitled, Prospects for the...
The Heart of DIR/Floortime: The ‘R’ and Genuine Affect
This week I'm speaking with clinical psychologist, Dr. Amanda Kriegel from Floortime Atlanta and Morgan Weissman from the Rebecca School about their presentation at the recent DIR/Floortime...
Facilitating Emotional and Logical Thinking: Part 3
In part three of facilitating emotional thinking and logical thinking, I reflect on a newly recorded Floortime session with my son which was based on the suggestions that clinical psychologist and founder and director of the Greenhouse Therapy Center, Dr. Andrea...
Facilitating Emotional and Logical Thinking: Part 2
In part two of our Floortime review, clinical psychologist and founder and director of the Greenhouse Therapy Center, Dr. Andrea Davis is back to continue breaking down how I am facilitating emotional thinking and logical thinking in my 11-year-old son while...
Facilitating Emotional and Logical Thinking: Part 1
I'm thrilled to have clinical psychologist, Andrea Davis back for the next two weeks to review a Floortime session of me playing with my son as a follow-up from last year's bowling session. Dr. Davis is the founder and director of the Greenhouse Therapy Center in...
Recognizing and documenting our children’s communication cues
Colette Ryan returns this week to discuss cues recognition. She is a Expert Training Leader in the Developmental, Individual-differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Model with the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL), the Parent Support Specialist at...
How do we best prepare our multidisciplinary professionals in the field of autism?
Psychologist Gerry Costa is the founding director of the Center for Autism and Early Childhood Mental Health at Montclair State University and a professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning. He is the Board President of and Clinical Consultant to the...
My Biggest Revelations from being a Floortime Parent: Part 2
This week’s podcast is part two of a two-part review of my conference presentation for the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) from last month. Retired special educator and DIR Expert Training Leader, Jackie Bartell, joined me to discuss my...
My Biggest Revelations from being a Floortime Parent: Part 1
Continuing on with the theme of parent support, this week's podcast is part one of a two-part review of my conference presentation for the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) from this month. Retired special educator and DIR Expert Training...
Support for Fathers of Children on the Spectrum
Clinical psychologist, author, and parent, Dr. Robert Naseef joins us this week from Philadelphia for our 2nd podcast together. In our last podcast on Ambiguous Loss a year ago we discussed how we can unpack the 'why's' and 'what ifs' that parents feel when learning...