Take Root Occupational Therapy, LLC

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/rCZ3msrKY7qPZR9j/?

It is with tremendous sorrow that we let you know: Steve Silberman has died. He was our dear friend, an tireless and enthusiastic ally to our entire community, and not least of all the author of NeuroTribes, a book that enlightened, empowered, and educated millions about autism and autistic people—including my own son, "The Boy Who Loved Green Straws."

May his memory be a blessing.

Here is one Steve's favorite pieces on autism, from The Sun Magazine.

https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/24905-misdiagnosed-and-misunderstood -SR

[image: Steve Silberman and my then-teen son, hugging and looking lovingly at each other outside a taqueria.]

Back to school strategies with Autism Level UP and Mona Delahooke, Ph.D. This will be incredible.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1033464608572773&id=100057277306736

🎉 We don't think it is possible to be more AMPED than we are at this moment making this post!🎉

We are gearing up to Level UP! with Mona Delahooke, Ph.D. and YOU ALL ARE INVITED!!! ❤️💛

Some of you have waited a full year right alongside of us for this next conversation. We love talking with Mona and are GAMPY (giddy + amp) that this chance to chat is right around the corner. 🤗🤗

And, we are so, so, so, GRATEFUL that the Autism Level UP! community joined us in sending all of the good healing vibes, energy, ju ju, force, reiki, prayers, intentions, thoughts, well-wishes, etc. Mona's way to help support her in her amazing healing journey that has enabled us to reschedule this postponed conversation.

Consider this your formal invitation to come hang out with us (Yes, Jacquelyn does know that we are inviting the community😂😂)

Here are the details -
September 26, 2024
11am PDT (2pm EDT)
Via Zoom - We'll put link in the comments.

Image description : text that reads - Strategies for Back-to-School Success: Helping All Students Thrive Dr. Mona and her colleagues, Drs. Jac Fede and Amy Laurent of Autism Level UP!, in conversation on neuroscience-affirming strategies to support a successful launch of the school year, or to improve the school year, wherever you live! Also, get a sneak peak at Autism Level UP's new Energy Regulation manual: the Framework, Tools, Strategies and Logic to Support Regulation.
When: Sept. 26 at 11 AM PST
Where: Zoom! See link in caption to sign up

Take Root Occupational Therapy hopes all Collier County Students have a wonderful first day back to school.

If you have questions on how to better support your child's learning, please contact us at 239-216-6080

Try this thought experiment as you welcome new students into your classrooms tomorrow or work to support your own children at home.

“Play around with the thought experiment "What does my child need for their success to be inevitable?"

And remember- I'm not defining what success it or saying that it's our job to ensure it. It starts as just a thought experiment.

Then ask yourself what scaffolding you can offer. When you can create the needed scaffolding, see the resulting behavior as due to a lack of support, skills, and scaffolding, not willfulness, oppositionality, or bad character. “

From Robyn Gobbel - Trauma, Toxic Stress, & Baffling Behaviors

It's that time of year again! Collier County students are headed back to class on August 13th. Not only are we wishing you (and your little ones) a wonderful first day back, but we've compiled some helpful tips and tricks for the transition.

Whether your child is a returning student or headed off to school for the first time, we believe that preparation is key in ensuring that your child receives the care and resources that they deserve.

If you have any questions, feel free to send us a message!

As school starts back, think of how your child or students are learning and the supports they receive.

Can you move up a level on the chart?

From The Occuplaytional Therapist

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=746573784302306&id=100068490722118&mibextid=WC7FNe&paipv=0&eav=Afajb5jS9volN7XjGWYAtGoET51R7W3mHZpcGJIX1Tm8vVFC_7E-S2NFBIOqu61ybkA&_rdr

The term neurodiversity is one that keeps coming up more and more these days.

What is it? What is a Neurodiversity affirming therapist?

Here is what it means to us:

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=895818362550675&id=100063675571649&mibextid=WC7FNe&paipv=0&eav=AfbJD4PMvjcEWOrM2pSW0Xdl1p0AotXt1bmVD-WMyFz6aGKxY0TCX8nCujlSvZA0f7M&_rdr

What is a neurodiversity affirming therapist?

To be neurodiversity affirming means to work with the individual to provide support, ideas, and goals which work with their particular brain type. You will probably hear many people state that they are neurodiversity affirming and it is something that we at Take Root Occupational Therapy, LLC strive to do.

While there is no certification or set guidelines for a neurodiversity affirming practice, here is what it means to us:

At Take Root Occupational Therapy, LLC we will seek out knowledge from those with lived experience. While important, learning cannot come just from professionals and their organizations. To be neurodiversity affirming, we must seek out training and listen to the perspectives of individuals in which we are attempting to help.

Presume Competence: We believe that every individual has the ability to understand information and learn. It means that we believe that someone understands what we say even if they cannot express themselves with verbal speech. It means that we take time to allow the individual to participate and communicate in their own way.

Respect Autonomy: We do not force an individual to participate in an activity. “No” means “no.” Always. We do not manipulate another person’s body or touch them without consent and assent.

Teach Advocacy: We work with individuals to discover their interests and types of support needed. We assist the individual with learning to advocate for themselves based on their wants and needs (not ours or society’s).

Honor All Communication: We will “listen” to all communication we receive from an individual whether its verbal speech, AAC use, gestures, vocalizations, or repeating from shows/movies.

Many well meaning educators, parents and therapists create goals or tasks for neurodivergent kids that go against how their brains and bodies work. It is based on the neurotypical ideals and ways of existing in the world.
We will never force eye contact, target compliance based goals, use edible reinforcers, or withhold favorite objects.

In the coming weeks, we will explore common goals and tools used that may actually be harmful and the research behind them.

From Neurowild

“Many of our ND kids have SPIKY skill sets. There is often a significant gap between their big strengths and their other skills.”

“Our kids with uneven skill sets or ‘spiky profiles’ deserve to be accepted and celebrated as they are. “

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=455234120748943&id=100087870753308

From Kelly Mahler

The power of co-regulation.

As you think over this past school year, how did it go? What worked? Did you co-regulate?

In my work in schools, one of the biggest mistakes I see is the lack of co-regulation. Current educational culture expects self-regulation and when a student can’t achieve these unfair expectations, they are labeled as a ‘behavior problem’. And then in comes the behavior team, doing their behavioral assessments and creating their behavior plan all focused on getting the student to comply. All along, the student needed co-regulation—the support from mutual, safe relationships with people that are genuinely curious about their inner experience. Providing them with internal and external supports that consider the state of their nervous system.

Read more on the blog: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/resources/blog/the-power-of-co-regulation/

Register for the live course: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/resources/live-online-courses/

From Autball
“ You know what really helps prepare kids for the next thing? Waiting until they’re actually ready for it and not stressing them tf out with unrealistic expectations in the meantime. ”

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=453498864067038&id=100082207851890&mibextid=JOZb8W

From Autball on harmful practices related to sensory processing

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=445057254911199&id=100082207851890

Part 4 of a 5 part series about the ways harmful practices can be made to sound appealing and how to spot the differences between helpful and harmful approaches.

Sensory sensitivities are a huge part of being autistic (and sometimes ADHD, too). They can range from kind of annoying but manageable to debilitating and meltdown-inducing. They can fluctuate from day to day and situation to situation. They can seem to pop up one day out of nowhere and disappear just as quickly.

Sensory differences are dynamic, which can make them unpredictable and disruptive. Not many people want to live that way, so working on sensory desensitization with someone who has a lot of sensitivities sounds like a thing that could help. Fewer meltdowns and able to do more things? Yes please!

But as you might have guessed, there’s a giant problem with that: reducing sensitivity isn’t really a thing you can do TO someone. At least, not without inducing a trauma response or two. You can certainly get someone to learn to ignore their own body signals or pretend to be fine when they’re not, but that’s not a sensory thing. That’s a dissociation thing.

“Sensory desensitization” is usually code for exposure therapy. Exposure therapy has its uses, but addressing legitimate sensory issues isn’t one of them. And it should only be done WITH someone who can fully consent and actively participate. Coercing and/or forcing someone to interact with distressing sensory input until they stop reacting is not that.

“Sensory desensitization” also operates under the assumption that people just get used to, or habituate to, the noises and sensations around them, even ones that bother them. But studies have shown that autistic people actually don’t habituate to sensory stimuli the way non-autistic people do. It may take way longer to happen, or it may never happen at all.

You know what can and does happen? Sensory sensitivities can just kinda…change. All on their own. We grow up, our hormones change, our stress levels change, our environments change, and our sensory profiles are affected by all of those things (and more!). Sensitivities can just disappear, naturally, without any intervention. And that’s about the only thing I’d ever refer to as real sensory desensitization.

But sensory sensitivities can go any which way. Maybe new ones rear their ugly heads. Or maybe something bothers us at a level 7 one day and 2 the next, then goes all the way up to 11 next week. And then there are the ones that just stay pretty much the same, all the time, forever.

I could not handle pants for a long time as a kid, but then somewhere along the way, I could. I really couldn’t tell you when it happened. There are some foods that used to make me gag that no longer do, and there are some that I still just cannot handle. I have never been okay with things that stick to my hands, and that really hasn't changed since as far back as I can remember.

You know what all these sensory sensitivities have in common? Someone made me “tolerate” them at some point, often repeatedly. And none of them changed (or didn’t) because of repeated exposure, but because of my natural development. All I got from forced exposure was this lousy tendency to disconnect from myself.

Sensory desensitization is just not a thing we should be trying to do to people. Sensory *integration* is a real thing that can help people, but that is a whole different animal that requires more than just exposing people to stuff that bothers them. You’ll need an OT (Occupational Therapist) with the specialized training for that. Just make sure they’re not sneaking behaviorism tactics or exposure therapy in there either (yep, the words “sensory integration” can be used to misrepresent what they’re doing, too).

It is a far better thing to help someone learn about their own sensory profile and how to manage their sensory needs than to make them ignore their own body signals. Alexithymia is not . There are better ways to deal with sensory sensitivities and distress, and I’ve linked to some of them below.

[Image description: A two panel cartoon by Autball.

1: A white box at the top reads: FAKE SENSORY DESENSITIZATION.

A red adult stands with a green adult and says, “We make them touch stuff they don’t want to over and over again while rewarding them for tolerating it and punishing when they don’t. And eventually, it just doesn’t bother them anymore!”

They are watching a teal adult using hand over hand to make a pink/magenta child touch a lumpy pile of pink stuff. The child is looking away with a blank look and thinking, “Dissociating, suppressing distress, no reaction makes it stop sooner…”

2: A white box art the top reads: REAL SENSORY DESENSITIZATION.

A Yellow/Green adult is talking to a Red/Orange adult.
Y/G: Huh. You know how I’ve ALWAYS had to have something on my feet at all time for years?
O/R: Yeah.
Y/G: Well suddenly I don’t.
O/R: Cool. What’d you do?
Y/G: Nothin’. Just happened.]

It’s the last day of school here in Collier County. How do you ensure that “all the things “ are carried over into next school year for your child?
Autism Level UP has a fantastic resource that can help.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YdCzmHQ165X3Yk1F/

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=846013197546820&id=100064144415277

We need to think about how we can work towards providing context or spaces or relationships where a person feels safe enough to be their own authentic self, to express their own authentic feels and to be validated and supported in that process

Read more on the blog: https://www.kelly-mahler.com/resources/blog/lost-connections-interoception-masking/
—--
Image Description: a blue and purple tile with the quote from the caption on it in white text. There is also the image of four hands in different colors at the bottom of the tile.

If not rewards or punishments, what do kids really need?

From Neurodivergent Parenting: Think Outside The Box

https://www.facebook.com/share/oJzX8j3niz5SycA4/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Science tells us that punishment
doesn't work.

That rewards are only
intermittently effective.

So how DO we shape our
Neurodivergent children?
_______________________________
The answer is:
By building strong relationships

Teamwork makes the dreamwork.
________________________________

Okay
I hear you thinking it...telling yourself that

Henry's dad is at every t-ball game with his favorite juice boxes,

and Mandy's Mom plays Minecraft, with her, every weekday before bed, even when she is exhausted--

And that is a great start!
____________________________

But I am not just talking about relationship building, in terms of investing
TIME
or MONEY
or TREATMENTS
or EXPERIENCES

I am also talking about it, in terms of investing
GOOD WILL.
____________________________

Kids usually DONT get the benefit of the doubt.

They don't get the peace and goodwill, people like to sing about, at Christmas.

Teachers engaging in crowd control over 27,
bored,
hungry,
3rd graders,
don't take the time to
"ASSUME POSITIVE INTENT,"
_______________________________

And to be honest,
even since his retirement,
Grandpa doesn't try to understand WHY Shane keeps getting in playground squabbles.

He just tells Shane to STOP.
To "make better choices."
To "use safe hands."
And to "be a good friend."

Which to 5 year old Shane, sounds like a lot of malarkey.
_______________________________

Our kids deserve more.

They deserve your diplomacy
and GOOD WILL.

They deserve your trying to
OPEN UP communication,

instead of shutting it down because you don't like that the first thing they said was,
"It's-not-my-fault-he-started-it-I-hate-him-nobody-loves-me-you're-stupid-and-I-want-a-candy-bar!"
_______________________________

Shane needs someone to stop focusing on punishments.

To stop planning an
embargo on sugar.

And to stop issuing sanctions
regarding the use of
"hurtful hands" and how it
could impact access to
the Xbox.
_______________________________

Keep that up, and Little Shane will become a one man island, instead of a valuable part of your nation.

You need to keep him close. You need him to feel valued.

You need him as an ALLY.
_______________________________

Shane needs a peace negotiator
focused on outcomes.

One who wants to preserve their RELATIONSHIP with Shane,

even at the cost of
public embarrassment,

or having to shift toward
an uncomfortable perspective,

or needing to accept
responsibility for not
communicating clearly.
_______________________________

So, what kind of outcomes do we focus on?

How about:

1) Getting everyone to safety

Do whatever it takes to make people not just BE safe, but FEEL safe....and that includes Shane.

If feeling safe means
breaking a rule about
keeping on shoes at the library,
then let it go.

In this moment, it doesn't matter.

Shoes can come off
so Shane can feel connected to the ground beneath him...
and nobody else's opinion on the matter is important.

YOU are in charge of this negotiation,

and YOU know what concessions
can make a difference in making
Shane feel SAFE.
____________________________

2) Opening up peace talks (or non verbal communication).

Shane needs someone who will LISTEN more than they speak.

Who will let him get out those intrusive thoughts,
and not save them up for
emotional blackmail.

Who will try to understand how misunderstandings happened,
and why they seemed
logical, at the time.

Shane needs someone who is willing to POSTPONE peace talks until safety is guaranteed...

And right now, Shane's
Fight and Flight responses do
not have him feeling safe.

So peace talks can wait until
after dinner, even if it makes
big sister, angry.

Maybe then,
with safety guaranteed,
Shane can be receptive to
YOUR wisdom, too.
____________________________

3) Understanding that change is not just THEIR responsibility.

Shane doesn't live in a vacuum. His actions are not random.

Shane is part of a family, an age cohort, and Miss Pauline's 1st grade class....

Shane cannot just
"Make Good Choices,"
without support.

That means that YOU need to avoid setting Shane up to fail.

If he always gets riled up when he goes to the playground,
then you need to stay WITH him
on the playground, to coregulate

If he has trouble waiting in line,
you need to wait with him,
bring a distraction,
or plan ahead to
avoid long lines

Shane needs someone to ACCEPT the part they played in his struggle...

To TELL him it's not all on HIM.

And model that it is okay for an adult to
make changes,
make amends,
forgive,
and move forward.
_________________________________

Trying to pivot from rewards or punishments,
to ASSUMING POSITIVE INTENT
can feel like a lot.

Particularly when we are worried that other parents are judging us for seeming to be "too gentle a parent."

But your child is counting on you. And I believe in you.
________________________________

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Keep your child on your team. They need one.

And honestly, I bet YOU need one, too.
_____________________________

Who is someone that YOU could always count on, to be on your team?

For me, it was my 4th grade
school librarian. Margaret was
amazing and always made me
feel heard and seen.

Making sense of sensory with The Autistic OT

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1000889791604735&id=100050511698867

Sensory, sensory, sensory - we know it's important, but what is it? This workshop covers the basics of sensory processing and how to apply the basic principles of sensory to support health and wellness in ALL BODIES! 🖖

And then...

😍...we will be taking it just a little bit further and exploring the connection between🎉GESTALTS🎉and how this unique processing style applies to sensory information!

Join us to make some sense of sensory!

Participants will learn:

*the basics of sensory processing (Dunn) 🤓
*strategies for active and passive sensory regulation 💪
*hot-off-the-press research validating sensory processing for ALL bodies 🔥
*the connection between sensory and GESTALT PROCESSING! 🔗

After the 90 minute presentation, there will be 30 minutes reserved for questions, comments, and connections! Recording will be available for the presentation, but not for the Q&A. Certificate of attendance available by request.

*

Image contains the above information featuring an Asian American Femme wearing business casual attire in shades of chartreuse and pink.

Information for Trades People- entering an autistic persons home

From Spectrum Sloth

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=405115965670242&id=100085155265468

*Visiting an autistic person’s home - Information for tradespeople*

A lovely person who follows the page messaged me, following a very stressful visit from a tradesperson who had messed her around with timings and ended up turning up ridiculously early, then went on to be quite hostile to her when she was upset. She asked if we could make an information sheet for her to send to her letting agent to try to avoid future problematic encounters.

We put our heads together and came up with this (alrhough to be fair most of the ideas were hers!)

If this is something you would find useful, please feel free to share it with your letting agent, or with any tradespeople before they visit your home.

I’m very aware that everyone is different, and each scenario will not be relevant to everyone. If you’d like it tweaking to match your own needs, please do let me know and I’ll happily do that for you.

Anyone have clashing sensory needs within their own families ?

Manage Clashing Sensory Needs A 4-step guide for neurodiverse families.

YES! I hope all educators, parents, and therapist listen to the words of this student.

From the I CAN Network Ltd

We love sharing the wisdom of the young people in our Autistic-led mentoring programs, including this timeless insight from a Year 8 (8th grade) student:

'Even if I'm not looking at you...even if I'm fidgeting...even if I'm doodling...I am still listening. I do these things so I CAN listen.'

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/u4BAywKJN6mKRzyH/?mibextid=WC7FNe

La co regulación se logra mediante el vínculo entre personas y los elementos de la sala sensorial solo son un apoyo, por sí solos no lograrán la auto regulación de un estudiante. Se necesita más tiempo de acompañamiento verdadero y menos tiempo fuera.

Descripción de imagen: texto sobre una fotografía de una sala sensorial con distintos elementos luminosos y táctiles. Texto: Una sala sensorial sin la co regulación de un adulto experto es como un barco sin timón: los elementos son útiles, pero sin la co regulación humana no se llega a buen puerto en la regulación emocional de un estudiante.

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤
Síguenos en para más contenido.
Visita nuestra tienda de fidgets en .au
[Hashtags]

From Nigh.functioning.Autism

A mini guide on toileting

Looking forward to reading this myself.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/aXPWJ4Hn68BV6cSP/?mibextid=WC7FNe

I just wrote a mini-guide on toileting, AKA potty-training for nonspeaking and speaking Autistic clients and loved ones. I am selling it for $3.99 for a short time, so get it now! Look down below in comments. Please get this post out to as many as you can, thank you.

Zoom session with Not An Autism Mom and Nigh.functioning.Autism

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/61sV6CHyrfMu3g2X/?mibextid=WC7FNe

UPDATE: We have increased the number of participants. 🙌

This small group Zoom session is Sunday, May 5th at 4:30pm EDT.

We removed the fee.

✅ Learn about apraxia and the Brain/Body Disconnect.

✅ Learn what it means to presume competence.

✅ Learn how to increase communication through low-tech and high-tech AAC options.

✅ Learn about potentially harmful strategies.

This session is perfect for educators, parents, advocates, Early Intervention professionals… Anyone who works with young children.

Join TJ from Nigh.functioning.Autism and me!

From Autistic Not Weird

2022 autism survey

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/fVcTFBcBTULrtJ3U/?

Results and Analysis of the Autistic Not Weird 2022 Autism Survey Advice and insight from a former teacher with Asperger Syndrome

Autistic individuals can often be extremely sensitive to certain things in the environment they are in. It could be sounds, lights, smells or simply the feel of clothes they are being asked to wear.

This is NOT something an autistic person can simply 'get used to', build resilience to or block out. Nor should that be expected of them, because they CAN'T.

So it is vitally important to look at what can be changed about that environment to make it accessible to the autistic person, rather than demanding they modify their uncontrollable reaction or effectively be excluded from that space or activity.

Our focus should be on inclusion, not exclusion, shame, punishment, or unrealistic expectations of an autistic person in any environment.

https://diversitydoodleprint.etsy.com

Book alert - A Day With No Words
From Tiffany Hammond Fidgets and Fries

Beautiful story highlighting a family spending the day communicating without the use of mouth words just as their autistic child does.

A must read

A Day with No Words An instant #1 NYT bestseller!!!A must-read that belongs in every home and classroom, "A Day With No Words" invites readers into the life of an Autism Family who communicates just as the child does, without spoken language.This colorful and engaging picture book for young readers shares what life can...

ADHD and Autistic Burnout from Lived Experience Educator

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=945676164224196&id=100063454634557&mibextid=WC7FNe&rdid=c0zIDoTmmQTnRllG

I’ve turned a bunch of my old infographics into a series of ✨quick guides ✨ which I’ll be sharing throughout April and here’s the first one, Autistic and ADHD Burnout.

You can find this graphic to download on my website where you are welcome to download, print and share!

www.livedexperienceeducator.com/resources

What infographic would you like to see next?