Two Sides of the Spectrum Meg Proctor

This episode is the story of how an autistic physicist, an autistic occupational therapist, and a neurotypical speech language pathologist came together to try and break down the barriers to truly authentic inclusion for autistic kids in Durham, North Carolina. Our guests, Sam Brandsen, Janelle Fenwick, and Jenna Meehan are a neurodiverse group of therapists, researchers, and parents who set out to identify the barriers to inclusion for autistic kids and then to do the work to dismantle them. They share the resources they created and how we can do the same work in our own communities.

In this episode we explore how our ideas about disability – both as a society and as individual therapists - can deeply impact a parent’s relationship with their child and the child’s own view of themselves. Our guest, Chelsea Wallaert, is an occupational therapist and PhD student in disability studies who is deeply passionate about helping parents have more equitable and positive experiences with their disabled kids, especially during early childhood. Before we as therapists can show up fully for our clients, we must be able to identify ableism in our world and in ourselves and start the work to dismantle it. In this episode we talk about how to do just that.

In this episode, we explore neurodiversity-affirming social-emotional learning through video games and stories. Our guest, Vanessa Castañeda Gill. Vanessa is autistic and the founder of Social Cipher. Our conversation goes into why game-based learning works, and how we can teach some of the most important social and emotional lessons in our work with autistic clients.

You can check out Social Cipher at https://www.socialciphergame.com/ and if you decide you want to purchase it, use coupon code LPT15 for 15% off.

In this episode we explore the role of therapists in promoting positive sexual identity and reducing the risk of sexual assault for our clients. Our guest, Sarah Selvaggi Hernandez is an autistic occupational therapist and educator working to promote an intentional identity-first approach to autism and OT. Promoting bodily autonomy starts with what we teach our youngest clients and how we treat them in our sessions. This is a must-listen episode for all therapists no matter their setting.

In this episode we explore how a comprehensive literacy framework can totally transform how we approach speech and OT goals around reading and writing. Our guest, Jane Farrall, is a speech pathologist and special educator with extensive training and experience in literacy. This episode covers how SLPs and OTs can support reading comprehension and writing development in the larger frame of literacy.

In this episode we dive into interoception, our ability to understand the messages we are getting from inside our bodies. Our guest, Kelly Mahler, makes the connection between interoception and truly neurodiversity-affirming therapy practices. Kelly Mahler presents internationally on interoception and has authored 12 resources, including The Interoception Curriculum. This episode covers how a deeper understanding of interoception can help us support authentic self-regulation for our autistic clients.