Friday, March 15, 2024

Registration: 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM at Ballroom 1-D

Registration Desk Opens


Welcome: 9:00 - 9:15 AM in Ballroom 1-D

Brief Opening Remarks

Speakers: Jeffrey J. Guenzel, MA, LPC, DIR-Expert and Toni Tortora, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert


OPENING KEYNOTE 9:15 - 10:15 AM in Ballroom 1-D

Zack Gottsagen's Lived Experience and the Peanut Butter Falcon

Speaker: Zack Gottsagen, Actor

Zack Gottsagen's Lived Experience and the Peanut Butter Falcon

Zack is an inspirational actor that starred in "The Peanut Butter Falcon" among many other performances.   Zack is also an active and influential self-advocate.  Read more about Zack by clicking here.

Workshop Session one: 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM 

Engaging and Connecting with Music and Movement in the Preschool Classroom

Speakers: Colette Ryan, ABD, MS, MA, IMH-E, DIR-Expert and Michelle Merna, LCAT, BC-DMT, DIR Expert

Room: Room 1C02


Unveiling Intentionality in 2-Way Communication: Nurturing functional emotional developmental capacity 3

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

Room: Room 1C03


The Language of Friendship is Not Words but Meanings: One student’s journey of self-discovery and development through friendship.

Speakers: Toni Tortora, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert, Julia Feltus, M.S.Ed., DIR-Advanced, and Katharine Skakel, M.S.Ed., DIR-Basic

Room: Ballroom 1-D


The Chemistry of Love: Developmental neurobiology of relationships and play through the DIR lense

Speakers: Serena Suman, Psychologist, DIR-Expert

Room: 1C04


Networking Lunch: 11:30 AM - 1:00PM

ICDL has arranged for many food vendors to be open at the Javits Center so you can grab some food and enjoy a networking lunch with colleagues and friends, both new and old.  


Workshop Session Two: 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM 

Thinking Goes to a Floortime Infused School in Barbados: DIR influenced classroom includes Visual Spatial Components

Speakers: Kasheena Holder, B.Ed (SEN), PGDip (Psych), VT (Adv), DIR-Expert

Room: Ballroom 1-D


Meeting Individual Differences Creatively: Sensory supports and accommodations in DIR informed creative arts therapy

Speakers: Anne Crean, MS, LCAT, MT-BC, DIR-Proficient, Emily Teel Bell, MA, LCAT-LP, DIR-Basic, and Maya Nadler, MA, LCAT, BC-DMT

Room: Room 1C02


Spectrum Success 911: Navigating the multiple hats of co-founders

Speakers: Khylil Robinson, Self-Advocate and Michele Abraham-Montgomery, Parent-Advocate

Room: Room 1C03


Spectrum of FEDC 4

Speakers: Katie Shepherd, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, DIR-Expert and Sanette Louwrens, OTR/L, DIR-Expert

Room: Room 1C04


Workshop Session Three: 2:15 PM - 3:15 PM 

Under Pressure: Concerns parents bring to ICDL's parent support meeting and how you can support them

Speaker: Daria Brown, MA, Parent Advocate, DIR-Advanced

Room: Ballroom 1-D


How to Strengthen Higher Level Capacities: Supporting critical thinking for adolescents and adults using current events, controversial topics, and a DIR attitude

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

Room: Room 1C02


An Interdisciplinary, Polyvagal and Sensory Informed Approach to Early Intervention Services for Children with Autism

Speakers: Catherine Cavaliere, PhD, OTR/L, DIR-Basic and Nadia Rust, OTD, OTR/L

Room: Room 1C03


Come Sit at the Table: Targeting picky eating within the context of playful group therapy

Speakers: Kacie McGoldrick, MS, CCC-SLP, TSSLD, DIR-Advanced, Julia Ng, MS, CCC-SLP, DIR-Proficient, and Christine Valderrama, MS, CCC-SLP, TSSLD

Room: Room 1C04


Workshop Session Four: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM 

Navigating DIRFloortime and Modality-Specific Theory and Practice

Speaker: Zachary Kandler, MA, MT-BC, LCAT, DIR-Expert

Room: Ballroom 1-D


Creating Connection Through Imaginative Play to Enhance Gross Motor Skills – a PT's Perspective

Speaker: Gracielle Abano, PT, DIR-Basic and Tracy Lin, PT Cert.MDT, CYT-200, DIR-Basic

Room: Room 1C02


Considering the Benefits of Parent Groups for Parents' and their Children's Development and Wellbeing

Speakers: Dr. Lauren Tobing-Puente, Ph.D., DIR-Proficient, Lynne Kalvin, LCSW, DIR-Basic, and Melissa Sinacori, M.S.Ed

Room: Room 1C03


Using a DIRFloortime® approach with medically complex children: A compliment to trauma-informed care

Speakers: Erin Forward, MSP, CCC-SLP, CLC, DIR-Advanced and Taylor Anderson, MS, CCC-SLP, DIR-Basic

Room: Room 1C04

Saturday, March 16, 2024

KEYNOTE Presentation: 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM in Ballroom 1-D

A Wonderful Life: Our family’s DIRFloortime magical mystery tour

Speaker: The Kredich Family (Kim, Matt, Miles, and Coleman)

Circles Around the Son Video: https://youtu.be/ay2lSL8hxvA

A Wonderful Life: Our Family's DIRFloortime Magical Mystery Tour

This will be an emotional, moving, must-see presentation.  With all the live-online presentations ICDL offers and we all attend, this will be one that you will certainly want to be with us in-person to experience.  

Workshop Session one: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM 

A Day in the Life of Rebecca School: A narrative of 8 hours of floortime

Speaker: Stephen C. Gurney, Educator, DIR-Proficient

Room: Room 1C02


Navigating Complex Situations Using DIR Principles

Speakers: Andrea Davis, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, DIR-Expert, Catherine Murray, LCSW, I/ECMH-C DIR-Expert, and Kathleen Platzman, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, DIR-Expert

Room: Ballroom 1-D


Awareness and Linking Body Signals to Emotions Leads to Healthy Infant Mental Health: A DIR perspective for facilitating parent mediated intervention from co-regulation to self-regulation

Speakers: Ira Glovinsky, Ph.D., DIR-Expert and Frances Poteet, Ph.D.

Room: Room 1C03


Trauma and the DIR/Floortime Model: A video case study

Speakers: Maude Le Roux, OTR/L, DIR-Expert

Room: Room 1C04


Networking Lunch: 12:00 PM - 1:30PM

ICDL has arranged for many food vendors to be open at the Javits Center so you can grab some food and enjoy a networking lunch with colleagues and friends, both new and old.  


Workshop Session Two: 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM US ET

Viki's Evolution of Play: A case study

Speakers: Toni Tortora, MS OTR/L, DIR-Expert and Destiny Holley, DIR-Proficient

Room: Room 1C02


Appreciating Regulation: How understanding arousal and the window of adaptability supports strengthening the FEDCs

Speakers: Gretchen Kamke, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert and Amy Lewis, MSR, OTR/L, DIR-Proficient

Room: Ballroom 1-D


An Interactive Pocket Guide to Complex Family Systems

Speakers: L. Michael Fields, MS, LPC, DIR-Expert and Joann M.C. Fleckenstein, MS, OTR/L, DIR-Expert

Room: Room 1C03


Exploring Reflective Practice Using the DIR Lense

Speakers: Kristine Gose, MA, IFMHS, RP Facilitator II, DIR-Expert and Sanette Lowrens, MS, OTR, DIR-Expert

Room: Room 1C04


Closing Keynote:  3:15 PM - 4:30 PM In Ballroom 1-D

Three Key Steps to Strength-based Practice: Follow, expand, and elaborate

Speakers: Jeffrey J. Guenzel, MA, LPC, DIR-Expert, Zayne Harshaw, Autistic Self-Advocate and Gwendolyn & Gene Harshaw, Parent Advocates

Room: Ballroom 1-D

Jeff and the Harshaws

Moving from talking-the-talk of strength-based practice to walking-the-walk.  From clinical practice to the lived experience of the Harshaws following their son's lead, this presentation will show the power of following, expanding, and elaborating.