Jen Schonger is the Program Manager at the New Jersey Autism Center of Excellence and the mom to two daughters, one of whom is autistic. She is so insightful and is an incredible advocate for parents and for autistic children.  Listen to this episode as we:- Explore the surprising blindspots many OTs have when working with parents- Learn about the concrete things that helped Jen develop a positive, empowering understanding of autism, and how we can help other parents to do the same- Discover the shifts that therapists can make to transform the parent experience starting from the very first session and continuing through their work together- Get Jen's savvy advice about working with parents who want something different than the neurodiversity approach- Dive into Jen’s suggestions for school-based OTs about the most important thing they can be doing to support autistic students  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Ido Kedar is an autistic-self advocate and the author of a two books. He is a non-speaking autistic person who uses a voice-output typing device to communicate. Listen to my interview with Ido as we discuss:- His experience with OT, speech, and ABA before he had a way to communicate when no one was presuming his competence- How learning to communicate changed everything, and why learning to spell and type isn’t a simple as it sounds- Why Ido doesn’t like labels like “high functioning” and “low functioning”- What sensory and executive functioning supports Ido found helpful in his journey, and what outdated strategies he wishes therapists would leave behind- Ido’s advice to therapists who write goals to suppress stimming- Ido’s concrete challenge to our listeners who want to better understand the perspective of our non-speaking clients  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

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:- How we are missing out on a huge opportunity for our autistic clients by overlooking exercise in favor of non-aerobic “sensory processing” activities.- Why the stress and boredom that school-based therapists often bring to our sessions may be negatively impacting our outcomes, and what to do about it. (Spoiler: the answer is super fun).- How and why to teach simple mindfulness activities in our sessions and in our whole-class instruction.- How to love your job more and better connect with your autistic students starting tomorrow. Listening on the way to work? You can even start today.   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 challenge OTs to listen to autistic voices and level up our work with people on the spectrum. Join in the conversation as we: - Explore why the emotional model of regulation may not connect with many autistic people- Dive deep into how to support autistic clients using three the Autism Level Up tools: the Energy Regulator, the Person in Context, and the Power Plan- Breakthrough the myth that “calm” is the right energy state for every context, and get clear on what we can aim for instead- Move towards a context-driven and empowering model of intervention for self-regulation  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Joy F. Johnson is a black, autistic behavioral therapist who runs Spectrum Support Services. She brings a new perspective to the podcast in so many ways. Join into the conversation as we discuss:- How joy uses her behavioral training to help keep black autistic kids safe when interacting with the police, and what strategies we all should be using to do the same- Joy’s take on behavioral strategies that we've been critiquing on this podcast like planned ignoring, using reinforcers, and using hand-over-hand assistance from her perspective person who is trained in ABA and also black and autistic- Joy's experiences with racism and ableism in the United States- Why Joy loves watching credits, the surprising doors her interests have opened for her in adulthood, and several important reasons why we shouldn’t withhold an autistic person’s interests from them  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Greg is a pediatric occupational therapist who presents workshops nationally on topics related to sensory processing, challenging behaviors, and improving school-based therapy services.  Greg is a huge advocate for best practice in OT. Join us as we discuss:- Why OTs already have the skills we need to work effectively and respectfully with our autistic clients, but often don't use them- How behavioral approaches such as planned ignoring and token boards can be harmful to our autistic clients- What empowering strategies we should all be using instead  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Kristie Patten is the chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy at New York University whose cutting-edge work focuses on using strength-based approaches in autism. Join us in this episode as we delve into:- How most OTs wound up using a deficits-based model with autistic kids and why this is not serving our clients well- Why we should move away from withholding kids' interests from them. We'll also talk about how first-then schedules and even limiting screen time may fall into this category - How we can support autistic clients to build from their strengths to support their joy and participation in life, leisure, and work- What we should be doing instead of social skills groups- Why it's really easy to be a bad therapist and really hard to be a good one (plus some concrete steps to take to help get us there!)  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Lydia X. Z. Brown is an autistic attorney and disability justice advocate who specifically focuses on violence against multiply-marginalized disabled people. In this episode, join us as we:- Dive deep into how white supremacy and white privilege play out for autistic kids- Learn how systematic racism and trauma impact the diagnosis and treatment of autistic kids, including the unexamined racism of many  OTs- Explore the role that police and prisons play in the schools and lives of autistic black, brown, indigenous, Asian, and POC kids- Discuss concrete steps OTs can take to become anti-racist in their work  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

Welcome to episode 1! In this episode Sarah and I dive deep into how our OT practices can better reflect our respect for autistic voices and our autistic clients. Join us while we:- Revisit how the podcast idea was born and named- Explore the most pressing reasons not to use hand-over-hand assistance with autistic kids (I'll also talk about why we say "autistic" not "kids with autism")- Discuss autonomy, sex, race, the foster system, and so much more- Explore the most pressing changes needed by OTs working with autistic people, and what concrete steps we can take to get there  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast