About the Course
In this presentation, Rosemary White, OTR/L brings clarity, depth, and clinical relevance to Elizabeth Torres’s groundbreaking Moving Sensing Perspective in autism. Drawing on her decades of experience in occupational therapy and neurodevelopmental work, Rosemary unpacks Torres’s rich, data driven research and translates complex concepts into practical understanding for clinicians supporting autistic children, adults, and their families.
Rosemary bridges theory and practice by explaining how movement, sensation, and nervous system variability offer crucial insights into how autistic individuals experience and respond to the world. She reframes common clinical observations—such as differences in motor control, regulation, attention, and communication—through the lens of self-generated sensory feedback and lived physiological experience, moving beyond behavior-based interpretations.
Throughout the talk, Rosemary emphasizes why this perspective matters for everyday clinical decision-making. She explores how understanding individual movement signatures can support more respectful assessment, reduce misinterpretation of intent, and guide interventions that prioritize regulation, safety, and autonomy rather than normalization or compliance. Case examples illustrate how this framework can deepen collaboration with families and empower clinicians to listen to what the body is communicating, not just what is observable on the surface.
Objectives
Participants will analyze the Movement Sensing Perspective to explain how movement, sensation, and nervous system variability shape the lived experiences of autistic individuals.
Participants will interpret clinical observations—such as motor differences, regulation, attention, and communication—through the lens of self-generated sensory feedback rather than behavior-based assumptions.
Participants will apply movement-informed assessment and intervention strategies that prioritize regulation, safety, and autonomy while enhancing collaboration with families.
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.