Two Sides of the Spectrum

This conversation starts with books, then goes into more books, takes a turn into self-advocacy, and then finishes with a powerful message for therapists working with Autistic kids. And if you're wondering, we'll get to the narwhals too. Our guest, Lei Wiley-Mydske, is an Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent and disabled writer, artist, advocate, activist, and parent. Lei runs so many cool projects – including a neurodiversity library inside of a tattoo shop – that we discuss in this episode. View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

Often as OTs and SLPs we skip right to teaching our Autistic clients new skills. But what about their feelings of felt safety while they are with us? What work do we need to do so that we can show up calm and connected and ready to support our Autistic kids to feel truly safe enough to learn? Psychologist and school psychologist Dr. Gillian Boudreau talks us through this essential and often over-looked first -step to supporting our Autistic clients.  View show notes and transcript at learnplaythrive.com/podcast

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