Education

Ideas at Play: An Occupational Therapy (OT) Podcast

by Michele Alaniz & Lacy Wright

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Latest episodes

Ep.88 What Works for Cerebral Palsy? Matching Interventions to GMFCS Level

October 21, 2026 · 48 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Cerebral palsy interventions work best when matched to a child's GMFCS level, and one umbrella review sorts the evidence into green, yellow, and red. Michelle reviews what it found across postural control…
Ep. 87 Do Weighted Blankets Improve Sleep and Daytime Performance?

October 14, 2026 · 35 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Weighted blankets show up in therapy rooms, bedrooms, and shopping carts. Lacy and Michele discuss three recent reviews on weighted blankets for sleep, pain, mood, and daily function. Learn who they seem to help…
Ep. 86 Play as an Occupation: The Play-Work Continuum in Pediatric OT

October 7, 2026 · 37 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Pediatric OTs use play in nearly everything we do, but how much of it is actually play? In this episode, we review the play-work continuum, which separates free play from play as a vehicle for goals. Michele…
Ep. 85 Sensory Garments and Participation for Autistic Children

September 30, 2026 · 32 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Sensory garments are everywhere and frequently marketed to our clients and families — but almost none of the research asks what happens after a parent clicks "buy." This episode discusses a study with…
Ep. 84 CO-OP for Kids with DCD and ADHD

September 23, 2026 · 40 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Up to 50% of kids with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) also have ADHD — and that overlap changes how motor gains actually stick. We're back with another episode on CO-OP: goal, plan, do, check, and 8…

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Ep. 83 Building Spoon-Feeding Skills

September 16, 2026 · 32 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail “You gain what you train” — but what does that actually look like session to session? In this episode, Michele and Lacy review a case study that has all the ingredients of a solid motor learning intervention for…
Ep. 82 Teaching Daily Living Skills to Autistic Teens

September 9, 2026 · 45 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Daily living skill performance can be hard to learn for autistic teens, even when their cognition is average or above average. This episode covers a randomized controlled trial testing a manualized program that…
Ep. 81 OT Research for Down Syndrome

September 2, 2026 · 32 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Down syndrome is one of the most common diagnoses OTs work with, yet the research base behind it is surprisingly small. This week, Lacy and Michele discuss a new AJOT scoping review featuring some of the most…
Ep. 80 OT in Aotearoa New Zealand

August 26, 2026 · 46 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Picture a beach in Aotearoa New Zealand — a gnarled pōhutukawa tree perfect for climbing, a rope swing hanging over the sand, and a stick sized exactly to a child's height, ready for a game passed down through…
Ep. 79 Executive Function (Working Memory) Strategies for Autism and ID

August 19, 2026 · 33 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail A 6 year-old can't hold onto multi-step directions long enough to follow them — not because he isn't listening, but because his working memory drops the information before he can act on it. This week, Michele…
Ep. 78 Handwriting, ADHD, and Telehealth

August 12, 2026 · 34 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Can a therapist facilitate meaningful handwriting improvement through telehealth? A recent randomized controlled trial out of Ankara, Turkey put that question to the test with kids ages six to eight with the…
Ep. 77 Outcome Measures for Autistic Preschoolers

August 5, 2026 · 37 min

Send us a Text or Voicemail Michele found 74 outcome measures to consider for her autistic preschoolers! She and Lacy discuss the top measures from the recent scoping review: which tools show up most in the research, which ones earn a…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

Welcome to Ideas at Play, the go-to podcast for busy pediatric occupational therapy professionals! Whether you're in school-based settings, early intervention, or outpatient practice, we bring you evidence-based strategies, practical tips, and engaging discussions to support your OT practice with children, teens, and young adults. Each episode features: A deep dive into recent pediatric OT research and how to apply it."Nailed It or Failed It," where we share what’s working—and what isn’t—in our pediatric OT practice.Real-world examples and listener questions about all things pediatric occupational therapy.Shout outs to People, Places, and Products that fill our occupational therapy hearts Join the hosts, Michele Alaniz, OTD, OTR/L, BCP and Lacy Wright, OTD, OTR/L, BCP, as we explore innovative OT ideas, share professional insights, and help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends in pediatric occupational therapy. Subscribe now and unlock actionable strategies to help the children you serve thrive! Stay informed, stay curious, and stay playful! ✏️ Sign up for our newsletter https://forms.gle/2aceiDDHBq6LR5TV6. 📧 Email us a question or comment at IdeasAtPlayPodcast@gmail.com 👉 Find us on Instagram @ideas.at.play Keywords: occupational therapy, OT, pediatric occupational therapy, evidence based practice, peds OT