Deirdre Azzopardi is an occupational therapist with over 25 years of experience who has invested years into continuing education related to social and emotional learning for kids with disabilities. Join into the conversation as we explore the concrete ways that exercise and mindfulness can bring more joy to both our clients and to ourselves during our sessions in school-based practice and beyond.

Fostering Emotional Well-Being in Our Sessions for Our Clients and Ourselves with Deirdre Azzopardi

A place where we explore research, amplify autistic voices, and change the way we think about autism in life and in professional therapy practice.
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How can we center the needs of our Black Autistic clients? And how can we create spaces that allow for joyful, authentic participation for all kids?  Heather Clarke has a deep analysis of the barriers that exist -  especially for Black Autistic youth - and a vision for how we can move towards making our spaces safer, more inclusive, and more joyful.

Cultivating Freedom and Authenticity in Daily Life Through Culturally-Affirming Practices with Heather Clarke

Many of us have never seen strengths-based, neurodiversity affirming goal writing in practice. In this episode, Autistic SLP Rachel Dorsey walks us through the ins and outs of how to write truly affirming goals for our Autistic clients that contribute to their well-being, not to burnout. Check out the newest version of Rachel’s CE course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students, (co-taught with an incredible team of OTs and SLPs) at learnplaythrive.com/goals.

Strengths-Based Goal Writing in Action with Rachel Dorsey

Ido Kedar is a non-speaking AAC user who chronicles his experience in therapies both before and after he learned to type to communicate. In this re-airing of episode 9, Ido shares concrete advice on how therapists can be more respectful and effective when supporting non-speaking Autistic clients. Ido Kedar is an autistic-self advocate and the author of two books.

The Power of Presuming Competence with Ido Kedar

What is “neurosupremacy” and “neuronormativity,” and how does this differ from the idea of “neruotypicality”? What does peer counseling offer that traditional therapy misses? How can creativity help us break seemingly firm limits set by the systems of power and oppression that exist around us? In this episode, Honey Schneider helps us see the path to reclaiming our own wholeness, and to helping our clients do the same. Honey Schneider has an MA in Mental Health Counseling from NYU. They're white, disabled, and transsexual. Honey currently works as a peer coach.

Reclaiming our Wholeness with Honey Schneider

Our practice frameworks are supposed to guide our work…but what happens when their authors of our practice framework haven’t analyzed their biases?  In this episode, we discuss how ableism is built into the practice framework of occupational therapists, and what it looks like to do something totally different. Today’s guest, Dr. Bryden Carlson-Giving, wrote the first neurodiversity-affirming practice framework for OTs – and there’s something to learn from it no matter what field you work in. We also dive into the cultural model of disability, the limitations of evidence-based practice, and so much more. Dr. Bryden Carlson-Giving is a queer, neurodivergent, and disabled occupational therapy practitioner who developed The EMPOWER Model.

Fostering Emotional Well-Being in Our Sessions for Our Clients and Ourselves with Deirdre Azzopardi

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