We chose play from Affect Autism

Dr. Angel Belle Dy is a DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader in the Phillippines who started The Growing Brain PH, a DIR® accredited clinic that began as a social media page. She is a medical doctor who has a background in public health, community-based programs, and program development and fell into the world of infant mental health and parent coaching through finding Floortime. She teaches both online and on site courses for the International Council on Development and Learning.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/2025/08/29/medical/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 Autistic Moms Chatting from Affect Autism. This episode features two autistic mothers and autistic advocates living in the United Kingdom. Autistic Moms Chatting is an addition to the usual podcast episodes.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/2025/08/26/creating-community/

This marks the fifth edition of DIR® Dialogues from Affect Autism. This episode features Practitioner Panels–this one featuring five Speech-Language Pathologist DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders exploring Gestalt Language Processing. DIR® Dialogues is an addition to the usual podcast episodes.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/2025/08/15/dir-dialogues-glp/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Returning guest, Clinical Psychologist Dr. Robert Naseef, and first-time guest, Autistic Self-Advocate and Professor of Special Education at Alephi University, Dr. Stephen Shore have recently published an article in Autism Spectrum News called Reframing Pathological Demand Avoidance: A Neurodiversity-Affirming Perspective which we discuss.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/2025/08/01/pda/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Maythe Martinez es una Líder Experta en DIRFloortime® en Mérida, México, donde fundó una escuela acreditada en DIRFloortime® llamada Senderos. Maythe es licenciada en psicología, tiene una maestría en Desarrollo Infantil y también es especialista en salud mental de la primera infancia. Senderos⁠ es una escuela bilingüe (español-inglés) de nivel preescolar y primaria que actualmente está organizando sus actividades para el campamento de verano y aceptando inscripciones para el próximo ciclo escolar.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/2025/07/18/senderos-es/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Maythe Martinez is a DIRFloortime Expert Training Leader in Merida, Mexico where she opened a DIR-accredited DIRFloortime school called "Senderos" which means "path" in English. Maythe is a licensed psychologist and an early infant/early childhood mental health specialist as well. Senderos is a (Spanish-English) bilingual preschool and elementary school currently planning their summer camp activities and accepting students for the upcoming school year. 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/2025/07/18/senderos/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 fourth edition of DIR® Dialogues from Affect Autism! This episode features Practitioner Panels–this one featuring five DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders exploring considerations around setting limits and boundaries with our children in Floortime. DIR® Dialogues is an addition to the usual podcast episodes.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/2025/07/04/limit-setting/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 a full-time mother, passionate advocate, and deep thinker, navigating life through the lens of a late ADHD diagnosis with her neurodivergent family. We discuss her family’s experience at their Floortime intensive at ICDL’s DIR® Institute.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/2025/06/20/parent-insights/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 third edition of DIR® Dialogues from Affect Autism! This episode features Practitioner Panels–this one featuring five international DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders discussing moving from being someone “doing Floortime” to becoming a “Floortime therapist.” DIR® Dialogues is an addition to the usual podcast episodes.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/2025/06/06/dialogues-3/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 Tammy Bishop in Florida who has been an occupational therapist since 1999. She operates a service called Bicycle Lessons 4 All where she teaches autistic kids and individuals of all abilities to ride a bicycle. We met in a Praxis course at the STAR Institute and I like the idea of including a Floortime-adjacent topic on the podcast from time-to-time.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/2025/05/23/bicycle/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Mary Beth Stark joins us this episode from Atlanta where she has been a speech and language pathologist for over 40 years at Floortime Atlanta and is a DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader. Our topic is about pre-social abilities as pre-communication which gets into reciprocity and the development of communication. This is an update of an older podcast episode we did at the end of 2019 and is replacing it with new insights.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/2025/05/09/pre-linguistics/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

Our topic for this episode is promoting agency and autonomy through the lens of DIR®-informed music therapy and how facilitators can practice within a more mindful, neurodiversity-affirming approach.Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points and other ways to view or hear the podcast here: https://www.icdl.com/parentsCaregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

La invitada de este episodio es Simone Tiemann, terapeuta ocupacional de integración sensorial formada en Floortime en Santander, la costa norte de España. Atiende a pacientes con dificultades y diferencias en el desarrollo en su clínica y dirige desde hace 15 años la asociación Disfrutar El Mar, que ofrece actividades en la playa y el mar, incluyendo surf, donde voluntarios juegan y atienden a niños con el enfoque Floortime.Enlace al blog completo con los enlaces a los puntos clave de la discusión y otras formas de ver o escuchar el podcast aquí: ⁠https://affectautism.com/2025/04/11/surfing/⁠Cuidadores: Consideren unirse a nuestra Red de Padres DIR® para recibir apoyo de una comunidad de Floortimers con intereses similares aquí: ⁠https://www.icdl.com/parents

This episode's guest is Simone Tiemann who is a Floortime-trained sensory integration occupational therapist on the north coast of Spain in Santander who sees clients with developmental challenges and differences in her clinic and runs an association for 15 years now called Disfrutar El Mar which means "enjoying the sea" that offers activities at the beach and sea, including surfing, where volunteers play with and attend to children using a Floortime approach.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/2025/04/11/surfing/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

The International Council on Development and Learning (ICDL) Board President, autistic self-advocate, Dr. Emile Gouws and I discuss April’s month of autism awareness, acceptance, and appreciation, and the need to move towards action and inclusion. What does all of this mean and how does DIRFloortime® fit in? 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/2025/03/28/april/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

En esta edición de Perspectivas de los Padres, Mary Santiago de Toronto, una madre practicante de DIRFloortime® conversa con Susana en Buenos Aires, Argentina, y con Lucia y Manuel en Atlanta, Georgia, sobre sus experiencias con Floortime y su participación en las reuniones virtuales de apoyo para padres lideradas por la terapeuta ocupacional y DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader, Mili Cordero.Enlace al blog completo con los enlaces a los puntos clave de la discusión y otras formas de ver o escuchar el podcast aquí: https://affectautism.com/2025/03/14/padres-floortime/Cuidadores: Consideren unirse a nuestra Red de Padres DIR® para recibir apoyo de una comunidad de Floortimers con intereses similares aquí: https://www.icdl.com/parents

This marks the second edition of DIR® Dialogues from Affect Autism! This new podcast features Practitioner Panels–this one featuring five international DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leaders discussing Floortime around the world! DIR® Dialogues will be an addition to the usual podcasts. 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/2025/02/28/world/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parentsThank you to Toronto recording artist Ayria for the intro/outro song permission: https://ayria.bandcamp.com/track/infiltrating-my-way-through-the-system

The therapy trio from  Baby Steps Therapy, a DIR® clinic  offering physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy in the suburbs of Philadelphia, is here to discuss their collaborative Floortime approach used within their strengths-based studio to support growth within the  Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs). Baby Steps embodies a true DIRFloortime® collaborative.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/2025/02/14/baby-steps/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

German Psychologist Sibylle Janert is a DIRFloortime® Expert and Training Leader who teaches courses in the UK in English, and in German in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. She also offers Floortime coaching to families over Zoom in both English and German, as well as offering family intensives in her beautiful village. She runs supervisions groups, a mastermind group, and monthly webinars on relevant topics in German. She has also published several books for parents and for professionals about autism from a relationship-based developmental multi-cultural and trauma-informed perspective. Her next book on early exploratory play is due to be published in early 2026.Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points here: https://affectautism.com/2025/01/31/following/Caregivers: Consider joining our DIR® Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents

On this edition of Parent Perspectives, I am interviewing three Buffalo area families about their struggles finding, accessing, and keeping DIRFloortime® services and how it has changed their view of their neurodivergent children and given them hope. Bethany is the mother six of whom two are neurodivergent, one with an autism diagnosis. They range in age from 14 to 32. Heather is the mother of three of whom two are autistic boys and one is a neurotypical girl, ranging in age from 3 to 8. Megan and Mark are the parents of one autistic son who is 7. They are all in Bridget Palmer’s DIR® parent support group, Bridget being a colleague of mine at ICDL who is an amazing DIRFloortime® Expert Training Leader and Speech Language Therapist.Link to the full blog post with links to key discussion points here: https://affectautism.com/2025/01/17/finding-dirCaregivers: Consider joining our DIR Parent Network for support from a like-minded community of Floortimers here: https://www.icdl.com/parents