2026 Conference Schedule

Improv Comedy and the FEDC's: Yes And your way to better play

Speaker: Emily Areinoff, MA, OTR/L, DIR-Expert

Walking My Child’s Path: How DIRFloortime® aligns with conscious parenting- An Autistic mother’s journey

Speaker: Princess Owens, Certified mindfulness facilitator, Parenting educator, Self-Advocate, and childhood development professional

The Art of Being Seen: How clinicians’ cue reading shapes attachment and growth

Speaker: Erin Forward, MSP, CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert

"Get It On the Floor": Promoting togetherness in DIRFloortime® with hip-hop dance

Speaker: Sophie Barreto, MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Dance/Movement Therapy (in progress), DIR-Basic

Applying DIRFloortime® to Clinical Practice: Evidence-informed strategies for emotional dysregulation in children with aggression (From theory to therapy: advancing relationship-based clinical intervention)

Speaker: Nadia Emanuella Gideon, Psychologist, DIR-Expert

Prioritizing Relationship-Building Before Communication and Cognition: Integrating Floortime, semi-structured problem solving, and limit-setting in a unified DIRFloortime® service

Speaker: Kingkaew Pajareya, MD, DIR-Expert

Developing and Improving Sense of Self Through Meaningful Interaction: How DIR® supports the process of embodiment

Speaker: Serena Suman, Psychologist, DIR-Expert

DIR 101 Track Session

Speaker: TBD

How Can Communication and Language Samples Help a DIRFloortime® Provider Promote a Continuous Flow of Circles of Communication?

Speakers: Katie Shepherd, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert | Bridget Palmer, MA, CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert

Sharing Our Inner Music: Analytical music therapy techniques with neurodivergent children and adolescents in a DIRFloortime® School Setting

Speakers: Anne Koehler-Crean, MS, LCAT, MT-BC, Analytical Music Therapist, DIR-Proficient

Who Am I?- When a Floortimer holds a professional and a parental role

Speakers: Colette Ryan, PhD, IMH-E, DIR-Expert | Lisa Alizadeh, LPC, DIR-Basic 

Rooted in Reflection, Centered in Connection: FEDC 9 and mindfulness in action

Speakers: Catherine Murray, LCSW, I/ECMH-C, DIR-Expert | Andrea Minor, MPA, Mindfulness Consultant

Praxis as an Individual Difference: Integrating the "D" and "I" of DIR® through interdisciplinary practice

Speakers: Emily Tritz, OTD, OTR/L, DIR-Expert | Brookes Barrack, MS, CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert

The Dance of Creating a DIRFloortime® Classroom: Our Zürich experiences

Speakers: Jackie Bartell, MSEd, DIR-Expert | Christian Lüder, MS Special Needs Education, DIR-Expert

Caregiver Coaching for the DIR-Curious

Speakers: Ann-Bailey Lipsett, MEd, DIR-Expert | Stephanie A. Peters, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert

Bridging the Gap: Understanding an Autistic adult

Speakers: Turrell Burgess, Autistic Self-Advocate | Khylil Robinson, Autistic Self-Advocate

The Beauty of Collaboration: Bringing DIR’s transdisciplinary potential to life

Speakers: Nikki Magliaro, LMHC, CEIS, DIR-Expert | Megan Selchan, LMHC, DMT, CEIS, DIR-Basic | Dawn Capelli, MSW, LICSW, DIR-Expert | Amanda Diaz, MS, CCC-SLP, DIR-Advanced

The Art of Connecting Through Puppets: Supporting families to promote Functional Emotional Developmental Capacities (FEDCs) in the DIRFloortime® Model

Speakers: Carolina Sosa Carrero, MSC, Early Intervention, DIR-Expert | Gabriela Michaca, MA, Physcologist, DIR-Expert

DIRFloortime® and Health Psychology: Integrating development and care

Speaker: Lyndsey Gillespie, PsyD Candidate, DIR-Basic

Complex Case Management from a DIR® Perspective: Harnessing the power of the DIR model to support individuals, families, clinicians through crisis, stagnation, and burn-out

Speakers: Kathy Platzman, PhD, DIR-Expert | Amanda Kriegel, PsyD, DIR-Expert

Integrating Discipline-Specific Goals Within Transdisciplinary Floortime: Bridging professional perspectives to support holistic child development

Speakers: Andrea Snyder, OTR/L, DIR-Expert | Naomi Wong, SLP, DIR-Expert

Using AGILE to Tailor the Interaction

Speakers: Colette Ryan, PhD, IMH-E, DIR-Expert | Gerry Costa, PhD, Psychology, DIR-Expert

In Search of Perspective, Nuance, and Shades of Grey: The evolution of political and cultural attitudes in two Autistic men and the impact of DIRFloortime®

Speaker: Dave Nelson, LPC, ACS, DIR-Expert

Growing Together with DIRFloortime: Deepening Connections and Lessons Learned

Speakers: Daria Brown, MA, Parent Advocate, DIR-Advanced | Oana Zayic, PhD, Co-owner of We Rock the Spectrum Sensory Gym

From Foundations to Flourishing: Nurturing growth through three years of DIRFloortime®

Speakers: Stephanie A. Peters, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert | Paula Pacheco, PhD, SLP, DIR-Expert

DIR®-SM: A transdisciplinary approach to selective mutism

Speaker: Joleen R. Fernald, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-CL, DIR-Expert

An Integrated Approach to Child Development: DIRFloortime® and Polyvagal theory

Speakers: Elizabeth Ijalba, PhD, CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert

DIR 101 Track Session

Speakers: TBD

A Peer-Mediated Approach to Teach Young Autistic Adults About Relationships and Sexuality

Speakers: Deborah Klein Hammer, Autism and Low-Incidence Disability Specialist/Self-Advocate, DIR-Basic | Melissa Keyes DiGioia, Sexuality Educator

“From One Center to Many - The CDI Project Journey":The CDI Project multiplied across Brazil, building a more developmental and family-centered model of autism treatment

Speakers: Patrícia Piacentini, MA, Special Education, DIR-Expert | Renata Ponte, Specialist in PT and Traumatology, DIR-Expert | Paula Pacheco, PhD, SLP, DIR-Expert

Bridging Language and Action: Exploring the connection between Gestalt language processing and Affordance-based development through the lens of DIRFloortime®

Speakers: Juliana Padilla, MOT, OTR, DIR-Expert | Samantha Mulvey, MA, CCC-SLP, DIR-Basic

Things to Consider for the Future of DIRFloortime®

Speaker: Gil Tippy, PsyD, DIR-Expert

Dramatic Difference: Using drama to empower Autistic students in the classroom

Speaker: Liz McDonough, MFT

Enhancing the DIRFloortime® Approach with an Understanding of Developmental Movement Rhythms and Motor Development

Speakers: Michelle Merna, LCAT, BC DMT, DIR-Expert | Mary Beth Crawford, MPT, DIR-Expert

Family, History and Disability: Telling your story

Speakers: Anne M. DeWan, MSEd., MA, MT-BC, LCAT, DIR-Advanced