Supporting Individual Differences While Promoting Relationships
Time
Plenary Address - 1:40 PM
Presenter/Facilitator
Rosemary White, OTR/L
About the Course
Rosemary White, OTR/L presents a deeply practical and relationship-centered session on supporting the unique sensory, motor, and regulatory profiles of autistic children and adults—while nurturing authentic connection and belonging.
Drawing on decades of clinical experience and her expertise in DIR®/Floortime, Rosemary explores how challenges in praxis (motor planning) and regulation can compromise an individual's capacity to engage, connect, and feel safe in relationships. Rather than viewing these differences as barriers, she reframes them as essential information that guides how we meet each person where they are.
Through compelling case presentations, Rosemary elucidates:
How praxis challenges affect initiation, sequencing, and spontaneous engagement—and what this means for relationship-building
The role of regulation in supporting or disrupting connection, and how co-regulation creates a foundation for growth
DIR®/Floortime strategies that honor individual differences while promoting reciprocal, joyful interaction
Practical approaches for clinicians, educators, and families to follow the child's lead while scaffolding developmental capacities
How to recognize and respond to subtle cues that signal readiness, overwhelm, or the need for support
Attendees will leave with a deeper appreciation for the interplay between motor, sensory, and relational development—and concrete strategies for fostering authentic connection that respects each individual's unique nervous system and communication style.
Objectives
Participants will explain the neurological relationship between dysregulation and disrupted connections.
Participants will explain at least three strategies of DIR®/Floortime.
Participants will integrate strategies recognizing and responding to regulatory cues into their own clinical or educational practice.
Rosemary White, OTR/L
Rosemary White, OTR/L is from Australia and has been an Occupational Therapist since 1972. Rosemary received her Neurodevelopmental Therapy training in London with the Bobaths, her Sensory Integrative Therapy training in Los Angeles with Dr. A Jean Ayres and her training in DIR®/Floortime with Stanley Greenspan, MD and Serena Wieder, PhD and the Faculty of ICDL. Rosemary is the owner of a private practice and specializes in working with children presenting with challenges relating and communicating such as autism, sensory processing/integration differences and motor planning and regulatory/attention differences
Rosemary’s practice emphasizes understanding the impact of the child’s sensory processing and postural control on their capacity to relate, communicate and learn.