Born to Be Free: Supporting Neurodivergent Clients to Learn, Play, & Thrive

A podcast for professionals looking to support the deepest wellbeing of their neurodivergent clients. We focus on lived experiences, research, affirming practices, intersectionality, and the practical ways we can support authentic wellbeing. Visit learnplaythrive.com/podcast/

Last refreshed: May 27th, 2026 at 10:05 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

When Your Autistic Client Also Has OCD, Depression, Anxiety or Other Co-Occurrences: Affirming, Person-Centered Practices with Matt Lowry, LPP

{{Two Sides of the Spectrum is now Born to Be Free!}} This episode is a sweeping overview of the co-occurring conditions that Autistic people often experience, including OCD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, PDA, and more. Autistic Licensed Psychological Practitioner Matt Lowry helps us take a topic that can feel huge and overwhelming and reduce it to a few core themes that make affirming practice feel clear, grounded, and simple, even when we are supporting clients with more complex profiles. Matt Lo...

May 27, 2026•37 min•Ep. 1

Two Sides --> Born To Be Free (New Podcast Name!)

We have a new podcast name! Keep your eyes out for our first episode of Born to Be Free: Supporting Your Neurodivergent Clients to Learn, Play, and Thrive. The podcast is relaunching with an emphasis on all of the complexities our Autistic clients experience, and how we can support them in affirming ways. We're starting off with a focus on Autistic people who also have OCD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, multiple disabilities, motor difficulties, PDA, twice exceptionality, and more. Don't miss our f...

May 20, 2026•2 min

AuDHDers, Executive Function, & Social-Emotional Wellbeing with Vanessa Castañeda Gill

Meg Ferrell hosts Vanessa Castañeda Gill to discuss AuDHD (autistic and ADHD) individuals, focusing on executive function and social-emotional well-being. Vanessa shares her personal journey and how Social Cipher's innovative video games and curriculum support neurodivergent youth. The conversation covers challenges like shame and task initiation, alongside strategies for fostering self-compassion and navigating adolescent social dynamics, highlighting the strengths of the AuDHD experience.

Mar 18, 2026•32 min•Ep. 117

Therapy as a Collaboration and Becoming

"Because therapy should feel like a collaboration and becoming, not a rehearsal and being less yourself in order to survive." - Chenai Mupotsa-Russell In this short episode, you get a sneak peek into the audio from one of our most poetic and transformative summit talks. Our continuing education summit is now $100 off and available on-demand at learnplaythrive.com/summit Selected Transcript: "Normal is not a neutral baseline. It is a construct, a fiction, a colonizing force. Normativities functio...

Feb 17, 2026•5 min

Five Core Skills to Help Your Autistic Clients to Unmask for Life with Dr. Devon Price

Dr. Devon Price joins the podcast to delve into his new book, "Unmasking for Life," outlining five core skills crucial for autistic individuals to live authentically. He explains how trauma significantly impacts autistic people and underscores the importance of a trauma-informed approach when exploring practices like accepting change, engaging in conflict, transgressing social norms, tolerating disagreement, and creating personal life structures. Price also discusses applying these principles to empower autistic children and foster a more agency-driven life.

Feb 04, 2026•46 min•Ep. 115

Showing Up in the Therapy Room With Our Whole Humanity: Art, Attunement, and Radical Care with Chenai Mupotsa Russell

This episode features art therapist Chenai Mupotsa-Russell, who discusses the profound role art plays in therapy, from expansive definitions to practical, client-led prompts. She emphasizes creating inclusive spaces, embracing cultural humility, and integrating decolonial and neuroaffirming practices. Chenai shares her personal journey and how her lived experience informs her commitment to radical belonging and challenging deficit-based frameworks.

Jan 21, 2026•32 min•Ep. 114

How to Organize a Disability Pride Event in Your Town with Sara Zielinski

Occupational therapist Sara Zielinski details her journey into advocacy and how it led her to organize the first-ever disability pride event in Crystal Lake, Illinois. She shares invaluable lessons on gathering community support, structuring an inclusive event, and adapting to challenges. The episode emphasizes the profound impact of local initiatives and empowers listeners to foster change and celebration within their own communities.

Jan 07, 2026•34 min•Ep. 113

Supporting Regulation: A Leveled-Up Approach with Dr. Jacquelyn Fede and Dr. Amy Laurent

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 Lauren...

Dec 17, 2025•47 min•Ep. 112

Reclaiming Disabled Kids' Futures: A Planning & Visioning Process for Every Provider with Joyner Emerick

We all know that the plans and goals that we write deeply impact what our students and clients get access to learning. Joyner Emerick – a parent and openly Autistic school board director - has completely transformed the planning process in the best possible way. Joyner has a 10 year old who is minimally speaking with high adaptive and communication support needs. In this episode, you'll hear them talk about the future visioning process they created for their child. They’ll show you how it works,...

Dec 03, 2025•50 min•Ep. 111

How to Support Autonomy in Regulation and Reduce Burnout for Autistic PDAers with Sorcha Rice

This conversation with Autistic OT Sorcha Rice covers regulation for Autistic PDAers from absolutely every angle. The theme Sorcha kept bringing us back to is how we can provide more autonomy for our clients in how they identify their regulation needs and how they access their regulation tools. Sorcha walks us through a case study detailing how she supported a client who was deeply in burnout to help them access regulation, communication, connection, and safety. And at the end of the conversatio...

Nov 24, 2025•4 min

Practices that Deeply Respect Children with Mick Olds

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 ...

Nov 19, 2025•56 min•Ep. 110

Your New Favorite Authentically Autistic Characters in Kids' Pop Culture - BONUS EPISODE with Britton Payne

This isn't one of our normal podcast release days, and it isn't one of our typical topics, but this conversation is just too good not to share. This bonus episode is all about Autistic representation in media. In this episode, you’ll learn what comic books, TV shows, and more you should be recommending to your Autistic clients of all ages. Our guest Britton Payne is an entertainment attorney, recently of Warner Brothers Animation and Nickelodeon. On the side, Britton runs The Autism Scene, a non...

Nov 13, 2025•41 min•Ep. 109

How to Reduce Aggressive Behaviors by Centering a Child's Worthiness with Rabecca Hand (NEW PATREON SERIES)

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...

Nov 12, 2025•10 min

Practices that Center Regulation, Cultural Identity, Authentic Communication, and Dignity with Christina Schmidt

SLP Christina Schmidt strives to work in a way that centers a client's regulation, their identity, and their dignity. If that resonates with you, you won’t want to miss this conversation. Christina shares in detail how we can best support our clients with communication needs, our AAC users, non-speakers, kids who communicate through delayed echolalia in ways that are both neuro-affirming and culturally responsive. And she shares a model for supporting clients who don’t share our identities, appl...

Nov 05, 2025•49 min•Ep. 108

Startled, Trapped, & Shamed: How to Stop Accidentally Dysregulating Autistic Kids

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 f...

Oct 15, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 107

Safety As The Foundation of Everything with Dr. Gillian Boudreau

Episode 67 was one of our most impactful episodes ever, and today we invite you to re-listen. Often as OTs and SLPs we skip right to teaching our Autistic clients new skills. But what about their experiences 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 before they are ready to learn? Psychologist and school psychologist Dr. Gillian Boudreau talks us through this essential and ...

Oct 01, 2025•46 min•Ep. 106

Beyond The "Green Zone" & Beyond Labeling Feelings: Supporting Social Emotional Learning with Katrina Martin

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 R...

Sep 17, 2025•35 min•Ep. 105

Supporting Autistic Kids During Meltdowns with Amanda Diekman

This bonus episode is just for the parents you support, and it is all about meltdowns. A meltdown is a full body response to feeling overwhelmed. In a meltdown, our kids' nervous systems are in survival mode. They are going to fight for their lives or flee for safety. One way or another, they are physically releasing the energy of their intense emotions. When this happens, what is in our control, and how can we respond to signal safety to their nervous system? How can we turn down the temperatur...

Sep 10, 2025•22 min•Ep. 104

How to Infuse Your Practice with Creativity, Inclusion, and Arts with Emily Zimmer, SLP

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 ...

Sep 03, 2025•36 min•Ep. 103

Episode 100 - How to Change Everything: A Story from Ireland

In a complicated time when so many of us are feeling disempowered, this interview is a guiding light. Nessa Hill from Neurodiversity Ireland shares her story of how she used what she learned on the podcast to change the way Autistic kids are supported in Ireland on a national scale. Her story and her message are empowering for providers everywhere. Plus, listeners from all over the world share the creative, impactful ways they have applied what they’ve learned on the podcast to their communities...

Mar 19, 2025•52 min•Ep. 102

Updates from Learn Play Thrive

We miss you! Get the updates on what's happening at Learn Play Thrive. And download our free packet of parent handouts at learnplaythrive.com For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit learnplaythrive.com For more episodes visit patreon.com/learnplaythrive

Jan 08, 2025•1 min•Ep. 101

Unmasking Autism in Action with Dr. Devon Price

This episode dives deep into some of the more foundational questions around being Autistic and neurodiversity, tying this into the larger systems we are embedded in. Our guest, Dr. Devon Price, helps us explore the concepts of masking and authenticity and how we, as professionals supporting Autistic people, can push back against these pressures. Dr. Devon Price is a social psychologist, professor, author, and proudly Autistic person. He has written 'Unmasking Autism' and 'Laziness Doesn't Exist'...

Aug 07, 2024•52 min•Ep. 99

Part-Time AAC Use with Dr. Alyssa Hillary Zisk

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. Fo...

Jul 17, 2024•49 min•Ep. 98

Nigh Functioning Autism: From Shame to Empowerment with Tiffany Joseph

In this episode with autistic AAC user Tiffany Joseph (they/them, she/her), we cover functioning labels, AAC access, how race intersects with disability in the Autistic community, aggressive behaviors, and so much more. But the thread that runs throughout the conversation is empowering our clients to participate more authentically in their daily life. Tiffany Joseph, or TJ, is an Autistic educational consultant, and runs the Instagram and Facebook pages 'Nigh Functioning Autism' , where they pos...

Jul 03, 2024•23 min•Ep. 97

Strengths-Based Approaches: How to Deeply Center Passions with Dr. Kristie Patten

In this episode (a repeat of one of our earliest episodes, episode 4), Dr. Kristie Patten takes us to the foundations of what it means to be strengths-based and the impact that it has on the lives of our Autistic clients. Dr. Kristie Patten is Counselor to the President and professor of occupational therapy at NYU and the Principal Investigator of NYU Steinhardt's NEST Project, supporting New York City Public Schools’ largest inclusion program in the United States for Autistic students. In this ...

Jun 19, 2024•47 min•Ep. 96

Autism & Interoception with Kelly Mahler

In this episode (a repeat of episode 44) we dive into interoception, our ability to understand the messages we are getting from inside our bodies. Our guest, Kelly Mahler, makes the connection between interoception and truly neurodiversity-affirming therapy practices. Kelly Mahler presents internationally on interoception and has authored 12 resources, including The Interoception Curriculum. This episode covers how a deeper understanding interoception can help us support authentic self-regulatio...

Jun 05, 2024•34 min•Ep. 95

Cultivating Freedom and Authenticity in Daily Life Through Culturally-Affirming Practices with Heather Clarke

How can we center the needs of our Black Autistic clients? And how can we create spaces that allow for joyful, authentic participation for all kids? Heather Clarke has a deep analysis of the barriers that exist - especially for Black Autistic youth - and a vision for how we can move towards making our spaces safer, more inclusive, and more joyful. For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit learnplaythrive.com For more episodes visit patreon.com/learnplaythrive...

May 15, 2024•41 min•Ep. 94

Strengths-Based Goal Writing in Action with Rachel Dorsey

Many of us have never seen strengths-based, neurodiversity affirming goal writing in practice. In this episode, Autistic SLP Rachel Dorsey walks us through the ins and outs of how to write truly affirming goals for our Autistic clients that contribute to their well-being, not to burnout. Check out the newest version of Rachel’s CE course, Goal Writing for Autistic Students, (co-taught with an incredible team of OTs and SLPs) at learnplaythrive.com/goals. For show notes as well as in-person and l...

May 01, 2024•36 min•Ep. 93

The Power of Presuming Competence with Ido Kedar

Ido Kedar is a non-speaking AAC user who chronicles his experience in therapies both before and after he learned to type to communicate. In this re-airing of episode 9, Ido shares concrete advice on how therapists can be more respectful and effective when supporting non-speaking Autistic clients. Ido Kedar is an autistic-self advocate and the author of two books. For show notes as well as in-person and livestreamed CE trainings visit learnplaythrive.com For more episodes visit patreon.com/learnp...

Apr 17, 2024•27 min•Ep. 92

Reclaiming our Wholeness with Honey Schneider

What is “neurosupremacy” and “neuronormativity,” and how does this differ from the idea of “neruotypicality”? What does peer counseling offer that traditional therapy misses? How can creativity help us break seemingly firm limits set by the systems of power and oppression that exist around us? In this episode, Honey Schneider helps us see the path to reclaiming our own wholeness, and to helping our clients do the same. Honey Schneider has an MA in Mental Health Counseling from NYU. They're white...

Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 91

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