Developmental Capacities for Learning Blog
Everything you need to know to implement and practice DIR/Floortime on your own
To browse all posts by topic/podcasts, go to the Start Here link.
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.
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 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...
The Future is Here: Fostering Neurodiverse Students’ Media Literacy
I'm thrilled to welcome Chris Hernandez this week to the podcast for the first time after meeting him in March at the NYC DIR Conference! He is an Ed Tech, coach, instructional designer, and a digital creator. He is also the Media Specialist at the Rebecca School in...
Art with Heart: An Open Studio Approach to DIR/Floortime
Thank you to the mother and daughter artist team from Italy who created the beautiful painting in today's blog post photo which reads, "All is good. All will be good."This week we have two guests to discuss DIR/Floortime and art. Donnie Welch is a teaching artist who...
Parent Support Groups
Bridget Palmer is an Expert Training Leader in the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Model and speech and language therapist in Buffalo, NY. She runs a DIR/Floortime parent support group called Floortime Families which was in person but...
Navigating our therapy teams and social circles
Developmental and clinical psychologist, Kathy Platzman from Floortime Atlanta, an expert on the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model returns this week. Not only is Dr. Platzman an Expert DIR Training Leader, but she is the Director of...
Supporting Parents in DIR/Floortime
This week Eunice Lee joins us. She is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert and Training Leader and a social worker in Toronto, Canada. She's been learning about DIR since 2006. Eunice was my family's very first DIR coach eight years...
Research Supporting DIR/Floortime
Dr. Diane Cullinane joins us today to review some of the research supporting DIR/Floortime. She is a developmental pediatrician and an Expert DIR/Floortime practitioner in South Pasadena, California. She was a co-founder and the executive director of PCDA,...
Floortime in the Pool: A Deeper Dive
Occupational therapist at ICDL Livingston, Stephanie Peters, returns to build upon last week's podcast sharing her experiences doing Floortime in the Pool! Stephanie has experience as an aquatic therapist and has done Floortime in the pool as part of the Intensives at...
Individual differences and Floortime in the Pool
This week we have Serena Suman to discuss Individual differences and Floortime in different environments, including in the pool. She is an evolutionary psychologist, a functional psychomotorist (which is similar to an Occupational Therapist in North American), and an...
Attention and Executive Function
Occupational therapist Maude Le Roux returns this week to discuss attention and executive function. She operates A Total Approach, a multi-disciplinary clinic that uses a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) framework. While preparing for...
Interoception: What is your child feeling inside?
Dr. Ira Glovinsky returns this week to discuss the eight sense: Interoception. He is on the faculty of Arts Education at Brooklyn College in New York and he is an adjunct professor with the PhD program in Infant and Early Childhood Development at Fielding Graduate...
Online Schooling and Services during a Pandemic
Photo by Element5 Digital on UnsplashDave Nelson returns this week to chat about online schooling and services during the pandemic and back to school. Dave is a Licensed Professional Counsellor and the Executive Administrative Director at Threshold Community Program...
What to Expect from a Developmentally-Based Speech and Language Pathologist
Jehan Shehata-Aboubakr joins us this week. She is a speech and language pathologist at Clinical Communication Consultants in Thornhill, Ontario (just north of Toronto). She is an expert DIR provider and trainer with the International Council on Development and...
Polyvagal Theory and Regulating our Bodily State
This week I'm thrilled to introduce Dr. Stephen Porges and the Polyvagal Theory as it relates to autism and the quarantine, and its therapeutic listening application, the Safe and Sound Protocol. Dr. Porges is a Distinguished University Scientist at Indiana University...
The Realization Phase
Photo by AbsolutVision on UnsplashAdvanced DIR/Floortime practitioner Stephanie Peters joins us today to discuss the phase that those new to Floortime go through, especially when coming from other approaches to autism supports. Stephanie is an occupational therapist...
Meaning Making
Colette Ryan joins us this week to discuss meaning making. 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...
Covid-19 DIR/Floortime Resources
Here are a number of helpful developmental approach resources I've found for families during our stay-at-home period, in addition to our Resources page: FREE Dr. Gil Tippy's For on the Floor short videos for those wanting to do Floortime at home Affect Autism online...
Affect Autism’s Daria Brown
DIR Expert Training Leader and mental health professional, Gene Christian returns to interview Daria Brown, the person behind Affect Autism. She has a Masters degree in Personality Psychology, holds an advanced provider certificate in DIR/Floortime from the...
Floortime and the Coronavirus
While everyone is hunkering down and practicing social distancing, let's focus on what we know about Floortime: Floortime is about shared joy Floortime is about staying in the moment Floortime is about connection Floortime respects all emotional expression Floortime...
Anti-Bullying Day
unsplash-logoPhoto: Riccardo MionToday children are wearing pink at school to denote Anti-Bullying day. I posted a couple of videos with some extra thoughts about what to focus on today, and how the DIR Model can guide how we approach this complicated topic.
Promoting Parent Choice
This week developmentally-based Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP), and DIR Expert Training Leader, Melanie Feller returns to discuss the importance of parent choice in therapeutic approaches for children with developmental differences. She is the founder of...
A Closer Look at Impulsivity
Photo: Istiaque EmonMaude Le Roux returns this week to discuss Impulsivity and all of the factors to consider when addressing impulsive behaviour. Maude is an occupational therapist who runs A Total Approach in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. She is also a DIR Expert...
Pre-Linguistics are Pre-Social Abilities
Photo: Jason LeungMary Beth Stark joins us this week from Atlanta where she has been a speech and language pathologist for over 40 years at Floortime Atlanta and is a DIR/Floortime Expert Training Leader. She recently wrote a piece in the newsletter for the...
Strategies Don’t Support Growth
Photo: Hans-Peter GausterDIR Expert Training Leader, Clinical Psychologist, founder of the developmental transition service called Dirty Hands Developmental Alliance, and co-author of Respecting Autism, Dr. Gil Tippy, returns this week. This podcast we are discussing...
Promoting Symbolic Thinking in Small Group Settings
Photo credit: Park TroopersThis week we have a follow-up with Kristy Gose from our last podcast with her, Floortime with Family and Small Groups. Kristy is an Infant Family Mental Health Specialist, a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR)...
From Ambiguous Loss to Acceptance
Photo Credit: ShutterstockClinical psychologist, author, and parent, Dr. Robert Naseef joins us from Philadelphia. He has run countless workshops with fellow fathers, has worked in the Middle East and Southeast Asia with families with children and adults with autism...
Incorporating DIR Goals into the Individual Education Plan (IEP)
Jackie Bartell returns this week to discuss how to incorporate Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Model goals into your child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) at school. Jackie is a retired Special Educator in Rochester, NY and a...
Regulation Challenges through the Developmental Capacities
Photo: Michal Parzuchowski Occupational therapist Maude Le Roux returns this week to discuss how regulation changes across the functional emotional developmental capacities in the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Model. Maude runs A...
The Importance of Preverbal Affective Signalling
Photo: MI PHAM This week, mental health counsellor and DIR Expert Training Leader, Gene Christian in Spokane, Washington is back with us to reiterate the importance of the preverbal affective gestural system to development. Gene says that this preverbal affective...
Uniquely Human
Photo Copyright Providence Journal Speech and language pathologist, Brown University faculty member, and Director of Childhood Communication Services (CCS), Dr. Barry Prizant joins us this week to discuss the Social Communication Emotional Regulation Transactional...
Floortime with Family and Small Groups
Photo: Daniel CheungThis week we have a new guest from Fresno, California. Kristy Gose is an Infant Family Mental Health Specialist, a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) Expert Facilitator and trainer, and a professor at Fresno City...
Fostering independence
DIR Expert Jackie Bartell returns this week to discuss how to provide expectations for children with developmental differences in order to foster independence and developmental progress in the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR) model. I...