Autism
In Pursuit of Diagnosis
If you are pursuing diagnosis for your neurodivergent child, it’s okay to take your neuro-affirming lens back “off” in order to talk to the doctor about your child. What I mean is that you are […]
Child Development
Activities
Six Ways to Play with Vacuums
At my lecture last Friday, during the Q&A session, somebody asked me if I had any ideas for connecting meaningfully and playfully in therapy with a child whose special interest was vacuums, and who spent […]
At Home
Perfection
Age 5 (and 6) is extremely concerned with perfection. It’s a normal developmental phase. (Yes, this might also mean that your 4 year old or 4.5 year old or 7 year old are like this. […]
Activities
Big Kids Play Too
This is another one of my “big kid” room setups as I lean heavily this year into trying to continue to practice child-led play-based therapy, even with older children (9-15ish). It’s easier for me to […]
At Home
Monkey Bars
We went to a new playground recently. Monkey bars are rarer here in the UK (at least in my rural area) than they were at playgrounds in the states. As far as I can tell, […]
Activities
Summer Diary
When my kids had their summer break, my son kept asking and trying to make sense of how long the break would be. He’s in a phase right now of intense interest in lots of […]
Activities
Keyboarding Play
I have an old typewriter in my room. I also have a large gym mat with a QWERTY keyboard created on it in tape. Both of these are for the same purpose: to provide play-based, […]
Babies
Corrections to Corrections
Sometimes I get stuck in awkward situations with other adults where the other adult feels like they need to correct a child in some way that feels wrong to me. It might be exacerbated by […]
Babies
Core Strength: The Power of Play
This post has an audio and video recorded version for those who prefer to learn by hearing rather than by reading. Scroll to the bottom for the video of me reading it. All humans’ bodies […]
At Home
Violent Themes in Play
Some adults get alarmed when they hear children using language that sounds “violent” or involves themes of morality, such as “good guys” and “bad guys”. They may want to explain to the child that morality […]