In this episode, we discuss the ViSPA, the Visual Spatial Planning & Assessment, which is a tool used to organize activities from the book Thinking Goes to School by Dr. Hans Furth and Dr. Harry Wachs. The ViSPA follows the Thinking Goes to School book, starting with general movement thinking activities, then it gets more specific with activities such as ocular convergence where you work on your eyes coming together to look at a board, focus on a word, read it, re-adjust your eyes, look down at your paper, and write it down.

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/2023/10/27/vispa/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

I’m especially excited about this episode’s topic, visualization and imagination because it’s where I’m currently at with my son. We will discuss the complexity of visualization and imagination, and the role the Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs) in the Developmental, Individual differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model.

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/2023/10/13/visualization/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This edition of Parent Perspectives features four mothers of autistic children, including one who is now a grandmother of an autistic child. We discuss their journeys, finding DIRFloortime®, the power of relationships and play, and the growth they and their families have experienced.

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/2023/09/29/panel2/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This edition of Parent Perspectives features two professionals and mothers of autistic children.

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/2023/09/15/panel1

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This episode, we’re discussing personal narratives and harnessing their power to impact the Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs) including expanding emotional language, the concept of hindsight (e.g., should I have reacted that way), self-reflections, and more.

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/2023/09/01/narratives/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Compliance is often mistaken for readiness to learn, but compliance does not equal regulation, and regulation is necessary for learning. On the flip side, dysregulation is often seen as noncompliance. In this podcast, we discuss the connection between regulation and compliance.

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/2023/08/18/noncompliance/

Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

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