Two Sides of the Spectrum

Autistic PDAers need different kinds of supports to feel safe. And before we can provide those, we have to get curious and learn about their needs. Casey Ehrlich from At Peace Parents helps us learn how to foster true safety for our PDA clients. Content warning: this episode includes a detailed description of Autistic burnout for a young child.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Far too often research centers outcomes that actually harm Autistic people. Today’s guest, Dr. T.C. Waisman, helps us move toward research that centers Autistic well-being as defined by Autistics.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

In this episode, we field listener questions to Alex Zachos of Meaningful Speech to learn how we can more authentically and effectively support kids who learn language through delayed echolalia. This episode is a follow-up to Episode 40 on supporting Gestalt Language Processors.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Today’s guests, Meghan Ashburn from Not an Autism Mom, and Jules Edwards from Autistic, Typing, will be our guides in examining how we as professionals can create the world Autistic kids and their families deserve. Together we’ll dig through everything that is happening now for families of Autistic kids including going through the diagnostic process, finding a community of families for support, and looking for the right professionals to support Autistic kids in an affirming way. Check out Meghan & Jules’ new book, I Will Die on This Hill, at your favorite bookstore! View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

This episode is about how we as therapists build something different to support our autistic clients' social and emotional development, with our ethics and values guiding us and our autistic students as our co-creators. Our guests are SLP Carolyn Long of Social Optics and her student-turned-colleague, Nick. View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Dr. Winnie Dunn totally changed how we think about sensory processing for Autistic people. In this episode, we explore a person-centered, strengths-based way to consider our Autistic clients’ sensory needs in their daily lives. We also get Dr. Dunn’s advice on how to use her tool – The Sensory Profile II – in a way that will make your work easier and more impactful. This is a re-release of episode 16 of the podcast. View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

There’s a tool that is missing from most of our therapy bags: it’s lowering the demands for our Autistic clients. This tool is irreplaceable for helping Autistic people recover from the burnout cycle, and even for preventing burnout all together. Amanda Diekman (“Low Demand Amanda”) helps us figure out how to do just that.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

How does the historical and present-day trauma of Native Autistic kids impact their experience of our therapy? And how does the linear worldview of non-Native therapists create a gap between us and our Native clients? In this episode, Jules Edwards, who is Anishinaabe and Autistic, talks about culturally responsive therapy for supporting Native Autistic kids.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

In this episode, Dr. Kristy Coxon and Dr. Caroline Mills look at how we can support Autistic people’s meaningful participation in daily life as they enter older adulthood. And then they help us apply these lessons to supporting Autistic people of any age, in any setting. View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

EPISODE SUMMARYThe medical model is pervasive, and it asks us to silo the health needs of our Autistic clients. But our Autistic clients are full people, and their needs are intertwined. In this episode, Autistic primary care physician Mel Houser helps us reimagine healthcare and other systems that aren't working for the Autistic community, breaking down access barriers and implementing universal design for all neurotypes. View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast