
Supporting Regulation: A Leveled-Up Approach with Dr. Jacquelyn Fede and Dr. Amy Laurent
From Born to Be Free: Supporting Neurodivergent Clients to Learn, Play, & Thrive by Meg Ferrell
December 17, 2025 · 47 min · Episode 112
About this episode
This episode discusses a leveled-up approach to regulation for Autistic clients, focusing on matching energy levels to activities.
When your Autistic clients have trouble identifying the emotions inside of their bodies, emotion-based regulation systems aren't always helpful. This episode is all about how regulation can be guided by energy levels. Specifically, how we help our Autistic clients match their energy level to what’s needed for the things they need or want to do. Our guests are the two incredible folks behind Autism Level Up. Jacquelyn Fede, who is an Autistic advocate and developmental psychologist and Amy Laurent, who is a developmental psychologist, a registered pediatric occupational therapist and co-author of the SCERTS model. Amy and Jacquelyn’s work show us that there’s no one right way to be regulated. And this model gives a profoundly impactful alternative to traditional models of regulation. This is an updated release of Episode 7 from 2020. Amy and Jacquelyn are also speaking at our 2026 Continuing Education Summit. Grab a ticket at learnplaythrive.com/summit Want MORE EPISODES of Two Sides of the Spectrum and recorded Q&As with our guests? Join us on Patreon at patreon.com/learnplaythrive. Your support on Patreon helps keep the podcast going.
People in this episode
Host: Meg Ferrell
Guests: Dr. Jacquelyn Fede, Dr. Amy Laurent
Topics covered
- autism
- regulation
- energy levels
- psychology
- occupational therapy
- advocacy
Keywords
- autism
- regulation
- energy levels
- psychology
- occupational therapy
- SCERTS model
- advocacy
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Autism Level Up, SCERTS model, learnplaythrive.com, patreon.com/learnplaythrive
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