Integrate OT

17/06/2026

Today, we celebrate autistic identity, strength, and diversity. At Integrate OT, we stand with autistic people, not as “overcoming” but as flourishing in their own unique way.

What does pride look like?
🌿 Acceptance (self, other)
🌿 Autonomy (agency)
🌿 Joy in difference

Let’s affirm every child’s right to be seen, heard, and valued. 💛

15/06/2026

What matters most is not what you can’t do. It’s what you can do.

15/06/2026

Mindful Monday: Shared Attention

What is shared attention?

Shared attention is when two people focus on the same thing together while knowing they are sharing the experience.

It might look simple, but it is a foundational building block for communication, learning, and relationships.

Why it matters:
Shared attention helps children build language, social understanding, emotional connection, and engagement with others.

For some children, shared attention can feel hard when their sensory systems are busy processing the world around them. As regulation, visual processing, and sensory modulation develop, children are better able to stay engaged in the joyful back-and-forth interactions that support higher development.

Real-life examples:
• Shared 'wonder'- A child points to an airplane and looks back at their parent
• Reading a book together and reacting to the pictures
• Taking turns splashing water/pushing a car or any object of interest.

In DIR® Floortime, moments of extended shared attention help create meaningful interaction, connection, and shared joy.

Connection grows through small, repeated moments of being together. Even brief shared moments matter.

13/06/2026

Hi all. I'm looking for a new venue to host the next DIR Floortime® 101 trainings and would love to tap into the wisdom of this community.

Ideally, I'm searching for a venue around North Sydney, Neutral Bay, Cremorne or Mosman, but I'm also open to suggestions on the Northern Beaches.

The space would need to accommodate approximately 30–50 participants and ideally have accommodation nearby (or onsite) for those travelling from interstate and regional areas.

If you have any recommendations, contacts or venue ideas, I would be so grateful to hear them. Thank you in advance! 🙏

11/06/2026

  I have been writing and speaking about the importance of play in childhood for a very long time, and yet it seems that today’s children are definitely showing the ...

11/06/2026

For my home school families that I support. You are doing great things ✨💗

For us, moving to home learning was about safety.

Quite simply, school was not safe for our kids and we could see it breaking them.

All 3 learn from home now.
It took almost 12 months for our school-goers to get some spark and joy back.

And now?

Firstborn has just started DnD with some other homeschool kids (and LOVING IT)- something that would have been entirely too overwhelming to try even a few months ago. Seeing their joy in that little group is everything.

Second born has been learning subtraction, reading, and WRITING and DRAWING FOR FUN, which is something I have not seen them do since they were 5. More importantly, they are light and carefree again.

And the youngest is reading, writing, putting spaces between words, playing, singing, dancing, and drawing alllll day long.

They play together.
They read.
They fight.
They coregulate.
They problem-solve.
They repair.

Matt says it's like the kids are growing up within an intensive social skills group, ha. He's not wrong. They're building all the skills together.

Our learning maybe looks pretty different.
That's ok. We weren't made to fit into that box.

Em 🌈🫶

08/06/2026

Together, we focus on what helps your child feel confident in their everyday world.

08/06/2026

Mindful Monday: each Monday we will dive into a term that is used in DIR® Floortime.

Kicking off with✨Co-Regulation✨

What is co-regulation?
Co-regulation is when a child borrows calm, support, and organisation from a trusted person or place.

Before children can fully regulate their own emotions and bodies, they learn through shared experiences with caring adults.

Why it matters:
Co-regulation helps children feel safe, connected, and understood. It supports emotional development, attention, learning, and relationships in all 6 developmental capacities

Real-life examples:
✨ A parent softly humming while cuddling an upset child
✨ A teacher using a calm voice during a difficult transition
✨ Sitting beside a child and breathing together when they feel overwhelmed

In DIR® Floortime, regulation happens through connection, not control.

Supportive reminder:
Children are not giving us a hard time; they are having a hard time. Our calm presence can help them feel safe enough to reconnect and recover.

04/06/2026

Thank you ICDL for this clear map of child led play. Remember that child-led play is not just following the lead but also following the “need” ✨🧡

04/06/2026

“Why can my child manage one day but struggle the next?”
This is something many parents ask - and often, the answer lies in the nervous system.

Children’s capacity changes depending on factors such as:
• sensory load
• sleep
• stress
• transitions
• emotional demands
• social expectations
• feelings of safety and connection

When the nervous system becomes overloaded, everyday tasks can suddenly feel much harder.

A child may appear:
• more emotional
• less flexible
• more sensitive to noise or touch
• unable to focus
• easily frustrated
• resistant to demands

This does not mean your child is being lazy, oppositional, or manipulative.
At Integrate OT, we understand regulation as something deeply connected to sensory processing, emotional development, relationships, and environment. Our goal is not compliance, it is helping children feel safe enough to participate meaningfully in daily life.

Sometimes the most supportive question we can ask is:
“What might my child’s nervous system need right now?”