Two Sides of the Spectrum

When it comes to helping neurodivergent folks find playful, engaging ways to do the things they need to do, ADHD content creator Dani Donoval is the most creative person I’ve ever met. By the end of this episode, you’ll be grabbing a 20-sided die and turning your neurodivergent client into their own Dungeons and Dragons character, springboarding them out of "stuck" and into action. On this podcast, we know that our clients’ worthiness has never and will never be tied to our ability to do more and produce more. And at the same time, we know that many people struggle to do the things they have to do. Dani has broken the barriers down into five subcategories: stuck, overwhelmed, unmotivated, disorganized, and discouraged. In this episode, she helps us work through what the different types of barriers look like, and we dive into what specific strategies can help. Dani Donovan is an ADHD comic artist and the author of The Anti-Planner. For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit learnplaythrive.comFor more episodes visit patreon.com/learnplaythrive

Have you ever thought about what it would look like to put respect for the Autistic children who are your clients – respect for them as full human beings – front and center in your work? This episode goes deep into what that looks like in practice. Mick Olds (The OccuPLAYtional Therapist) helps us learn how to translate therapy goals into kids’ native language: play. They also share with us what exactly it looks like to put child-affirming values into practice, how they support PDAers, and what they do when they feel stuck in their own skills. This episode will change you.

So many of us feel unsure how to best support Autistic kids who have aggressive behaviors. But often, what we are missing in the most foundational need for all humans: to feel worthy and to feel loved. In this powerful interview, Autistic educational consultant Rabecca Hand shows us how to examine the environment and adult interactions - before looking at the child themselves - when a child is struggling. Then she teaches us how we can use this knowledge and the research behind it to create real change in the schools and the larger culture. Patreon subscribers also get a copy of Rabecca's thoughtful classroom management framework and her extensive resource list. This is the first episode of our new twice monthly Patreon series where we showcase the people putting neurodiversity-affirming practice into action in their work. We'll explore their guiding principles and their practical strategies through conversation and case studies so that you can translate your values into your own work. Patreon subscribers also get access to recorded Q&A sessions with some of our most impactful podcast guests, and a Discourse forum to connect with other podcast listeners. Visit patreon.com/learnplaythrive to keep learning and support our podcast.

All behavior makes sense, we just have to make sense of it. In this conversation, psychologist Dr. Gillian Boudreau helps us see that underlying nearly any behavior is fear. And so often, the fear is related to a child being startled, feeling trapped, or being shamed. But if you aren’t looking for it, it’s easy to miss. In this conversation we explore the nuance of each of these - especially for PDAers - and Gillian's exact roadmap for concrete ways to avoid them (complete with clever acronyms for each). This is a must-listen episode to help you understand your clients' experience in their lives and during your sessions.

If you’re anything like me, you learned how masking can harm the mental health of your Autistic clients….and then you never learned anything to put in its place. This leaves a huge gap for our Autistic clients who need us to know how to support their social and emotional well-being in an affirming way. Today’s guest, Katrina Martin, Ph.D., helps us answer questions like: - What do I say when a parent is asking for traditional “social skills training”? - What do I do when a school is using Zones of Regulation in a way that doesn’t feel affirming? - Should I ever have kids match emotion words to faces? When is this helpful, and what is it missing? - And so much more. Our guest, Katrina Martin, Ph.D. is a neurodivergent parent to neurodivergent kids, the creator of our online course Bridging Perspectives: Transformative strategies for neurodiversity- affirming social-emotional learning, and the founder of Bridges Learning System. Katrina speaks from her own experience and her extensive work to show us all how we can support social-emotional well-being while respecting authentic Autistic ways of being, connecting, and communicating. And a big update from Learn Play Thrive: All Learn Play Thrive courses will be available for sale only through December 16, 2025, with our final CE summit taking place in February and March of 2026. This is your last chance to take any of our affirming continuing education course. All courses include one year’s on-demand access and various CE board approvals. Visit learnplaythrive.com/trainings before registration closes forever.

We are back with a bright, glittery, colorful, and inclusive dose of hope for your professional practices. Our guest Emily Zimmer is one of the most creative, inclusive speech language therapists you’ll find. And in this episode she teaches us how we can all access more creativity in how we connect with our neurodivergent clients. One of Emily’s projects is a Drag Story Hour MN. (See photos - including an AAC-using phoenix - at learnplaythrive.com/podcast). Here’s what Emily’s spouse Grady had to say about it: "Drag Story Hour is a demonstration that each and every one of us is essential. When I was young, I only knew that [queer] 'people like me' died alone and too soon. I should have known we danced. I should have known we sang, I should have known we can grow and flourish and love and be loved deeply." This episode is beautiful, powerful, and full of hope.

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In this episode, we talk about why and how part-time AAC use can support authentic participation for many autistic people. We also explore Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisk’s insights on teaching AAC from their perspective as an engineer, as a researcher, and as an AAC user. Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisk is an Autistic part-time AAC user, using a variety of text-based tools. They are the AAC research team lead at AssistiveWare. Their doctoral dissertation was on brain computer interfaces for people with ALS.