Affect Autism

This episode’s guest is Amanda Binns, a clinician scientist who has her PhD and is also a Speech and Language Pathologist. She’s currently the co-lead at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital of a student-led environment designed to support autistic children and families across the province of Ontario. She’s also an assistant professor at the University of Toronto and an adjunct researcher at Western University. She’s with us to introduce us to the new MAPs (Meeting the needs of Autistic People) resource designed to support Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) who are working with autistic clients and their families. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/08/04/maps/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This marks the first edition of Parent Perspectives from Affect Autism! I thought it would be helpful for parents and practitioners to hear some of the things we discuss at ICDL’s parent support meeting, which happens Mondays at 1pm Eastern time. This new podcast will include parent panels–the first one coming up in the fall–where I’ll have a number of Floortime parent guests! I’ll also highlight discussions we had in various parent support meetings, like in today’s podcast. Parent Perspectives will be an addition to the usual podcasts with DIR® and other guests. I hope you will enjoy them! Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/07/28/parents/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This episode I am thrilled to interview Yuji Oka of the Spiral Movement Center in Toronto where my son went for their MOVEMENT program weekly for many years up until the Pandemic. Yuji is the founder and a practitioner of Adapted Spiral Praxis which is based on the bodymind somatic process. It's a child-centered modality that deals with the internal experiences of children: their physical, emotional, and cognitive experience--not unlike DIRFloortime®, yet different. Yuji is here to talk about his work with the disability and special needs populations he serves. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/07/14/spiral/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Occupational Therapist, Joann Fleckenstein, and Licensed Professional Counselor, Mike Fields, both of Individual and Team Therapy Services in Atlanta and Expert Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) Training Leaders are back to dive further into praxis. If you missed the last podcast, be sure to check it out before listening to today’s questions and answers! We talked about what praxis is. Joann talked about how she tests a client’s motor planning including testing different affect states and using games to see in real time how a child does everything they need to do. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/06/24/praxis-2/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Occupational Therapist, Joann Fleckenstein, and Licensed Professional Counselor, Mike Fields, both of Individual and Team Therapy Services in Atlanta and Expert Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®​) Training Leaders are here to discuss praxis. Mike was recently a guest at the weekly International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) weekly parent support meeting and the topic of praxis came up. I did a podcast on the building blocks of motor planning a few years back, so this will be a good refresher. We’ll touch on what praxis in this episode and part 2 in two weeks will be a question and answer on praxis! Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/06/09/praxis/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Dr. Karen Levine is a Developmental Psychologist and a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model Expert based in Maine. She has a private practice specializing in treating young children, both neurodivergent and neurotypical, with a focus on anxiety and phobias. She also has a part-time appointment as a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She teaches a course for the International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) called Treating Fears and Phobias in Young Children: An Individualized, Interactive, Joyful, Play-Based Approach. Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://affectautism.com/2023/05/26/fears/ Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This episode I welcome Gabriela Michaca who is a licensed school neuropsychologist and also just received her master’s degree in Occupational Therapy and is a Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) Model Expert Training Leader in Los Cabos, Mexico. She recently presented at the International DIR® Conference in New York City about parenting styles and how to apply Floortime coaching with each style. As a parent advocate and with so many listeners of this podcast coaching parents when they do Floortime with their clients, I thought, what a great topic!Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here:https://affectautism.com/2023/05/12/parenting-styles/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimershere: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Occupational Therapist Maude Le Roux is back again this episode to discuss the sense of touch, or tactile perception, part of the I, individual differences in the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model. Maude is a DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader and has a DIR® clinic, A Total Approach, in Glen Mills, PA, just outside Philadelphia where I’ve brought my son many times. She is a trainer in many other modalities of remediation and can be found training at her Maude Le Roux Academy both online and in person around the world.Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here:https://affectautism.com/2023/04/28/touch/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here:https://www.icdl.com/parents

Mary Beth Crawford is a licensed Physical therapist and Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) Expert Training Leader who founded Baby Steps Therapy in 2008. Mary Beth regularly provides lectures and in-service training to numerous parent groups, and medical professionals and allied health groups on the foundations of motor development, and on her unique approach to pediatric physical therapy. She is here to expand on how Physical Therapy is enhanced using a Floortime lens.Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here:https://affectautism.com/2023/04/17/physical-therapy/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here:https://www.icdl.com/parents

Human beings learn and develop within relationships, through emotional interactions with their primary caregivers, so in DIRFloortime®, we can help our children with developmental differences, including autism, acquire the capacities to relate, think, and communicate by fostering consistent affective, reciprocal interactions with us.