Kristy Forbes. Kristy is an autistic support specialist for neurodivergent people and their families and professionals. She is the founding director of both inTune Pathways and The Neurodivergent Co. Kristy is autistic with ADHD and a Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) profile. She is also the mother to 4 autistic kids. 

Listen into episode 24 where we explore:

• Kristy’s experience as a PDA autistic person, professional, and parent
• How we can use a family-centered approach to both support our autistic clients and help meet the needs of the whole family
• Kristy’s biggest advice to professionals supporting autistic people with a PDA profile

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

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View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Lyric Holmans is an autistic self-advocate from Texas who runs the neurodiversity lifestyle blog Neurodivergent Rebel. In episode 22, you’ll learn about Lyric’s own experience as a gender fluid autistic person. And we’ll tie this into authenticity in general, including what we can all be doing in our sessions to support positive identity around gender and sexuality. Please note that this episode was recorded before Lyric's name change from Christa.

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Zosia Zaks is a certified rehabilitation counselor, author, and autistic self-advocate. He manages the Towson University's Hussman Center for Adults with Autism, where he teaches service-learning courses that examine autism through a social justice lens. Listen to episode 21 where we explore:

• How diversity education can truly shift the paradigm to make disability inclusion more effective and empowering for everyone
• Why attitudinal accommodations are the key to positive inclusion for autistic people
• The concrete ways OTs can support autistic people at work
• What true self-advocacy looks like and why and how to start it young
• How everyone benefits from accommodations and advocacy strategies used by disabled people

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Jacklyn Googins is the cofounder of the OTs for Neurodiversity social media movement and the founder of B3 Coffee, an inclusive pop-up coffee stand in Chapel Hill, NC. Greg Boheler, who is autistic, is the cofounder of OTs for Neurodiversity and a board member for B3 Coffee. 

Join us in Episode 21 where we:

• Explore the practical changes that OTs for Neurodiversity strives to make in the field of occupational therapy, and how these can completely transform the work we do
• Dive into concrete examples of the content that Jacklyn and Greg create, including how we can shift our thinking on both echolalia and sensory processing differences towards a more strengths-based, person-centered approach
• Look deeply at the B3 Coffee model and learn how inclusivity and neurodiversity can truly benefit everyone

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Damian Milton is an autistic researcher whose idea spawned a huge shift in how we think about autism.  In this episode, listen in as we explore:

- How Damian developed his hypothesis that the trouble with empathy and social skills is a two-way street between autistic and non-autistic people, not a deficit of autistic people

- What early research Damian did to confirm this hypothesis

- One thing Damian would love to see OTs stop doing with social stories and comic strip interventions with autistic clients

- A tip for how to better approach sensory processing challenges with autistic kids, with a cautionary tale from his own life

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Jacquelyn Fede is a developmental psychologist and autistic self-advocate and Amy Laurent is a developmental psychologist and pediatric occupational therapist. They are the co-founders of Autism Level Up, where they push people who support and care for autistic people to take our work to the next level. This talk is an edited replay of their interview for the Neurodiversity in the New Year summit. Listen in to the episode to transform your idea of what it means to do play interventions with kids on the spectrum. We’ll dive deep into:

• How play interventions may be robbing autistic kids of the chance for true, restorative, freely chosen play
• How we can reframe developmental interventions that use toys or playful activities, but are not truly play for our clients
• What it means to truly watch, learn from, and listen to our clients as they joyfully engage in true play

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Sarah McCulloch is an autistic occupational therapist based in London, the senior OT in a school for autistic kids, and the founder of The Autistic Empire.  Listen in to episode 17 as we explore:

• The question we should all be asking ourselves before we start any intervention
• Why the best approaches to therapy require the perspective of both autistic and non-autistic therapists
• The important shift Sarah recommends we all make in our work around sensory aversions
• How The Autistic Empire is promoting self-actualization for autistic people (and how we all can too!)

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Dr. Winnie Dunn is a distinguished professor of occupational therapy at the University of Missouri, the author of the Sensory Profile, and a trailblazer in occupational therapy research and practice. Dr. Dunn’s latest research focuses on parent coaching and occupations in everyday life.  Listen in to episode 16 as we explore:

• How to understand sensory processing differences using a strengths-based lens
• How and why to support our clients in their everyday lives - even if we work in contrived settings
• Dr. Winnie Dunn’s surprising advice on how to use the Sensory Profile that may make your work so much easier
• Dr. Dunn’s advice to OTs that brought us both to tears

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez is an occupational therapist and educator working to promote an intentional identity-first approach to autism and OT. Listen in to the episode as we dive deep into:

- Why we should be focused on the development of positive identity for our autistic clients, and what might be getting in our way

- Concrete strategies we can use to help our clients flourish, inspired by the occupational science philosophy of doing, being, belonging, and becoming

- Sarah’s powerful message to parents of newly diagnosed autistic children

View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast