Rooted Beginnings, LLC

04/22/2026

04/22/2026

Maybe one day we will forgo the blue and puzzle pieces for more inclusive symbols.

04/21/2026

I will be here tomorrow too-sharing my story:

“I didn’t start this work because I had a great idea for a program.
I started it because, over and over again, I watched systems fail—first as a professional, and then in a much more personal way.

I’m a special education teacher and a DIRFloortime practitioner. I was trained in the very systems that are supposed to support autistic kids.

But I’m also autistic and ADHD—and even in those spaces, the ones designed to ‘help,’ I experienced ableism, misunderstanding, and eventually burnout.

There was this constant message—sometimes spoken, sometimes not—that in order to belong, you had to change yourself.
And I started to realize… that same thing was happening to the kids and families I was working with.

I would meet these incredible kids—curious, thoughtful, deeply feeling—and they were being described as ‘behavioral,’ ‘noncompliant,’ ‘difficult.’ Not because of who they were, but because the environments around them didn’t know how to understand or support them.

And I saw something else.

I saw kids being placed in spaces with only other disabled children—completely separated from their typically developing peers. Spaces that were meant to support them, but that often left them more isolated, more vulnerable, and with fewer opportunities to be part of real, reciprocal community.

And I kept thinking… what if the problem isn’t the child?

What if it’s the environment?

So I built Rooted Beginnings out of that question.

I wanted to create a space that felt fundamentally different—a space where kids could show up exactly as they are, without pressure to perform or conform. Where connection comes first. Where regulation, trust, and relationship are the foundation—not compliance.

And something really powerful started to happen.

Kids who had been shut down started to engage. Kids who were labeled ‘behavioral’ started communicating. Families who felt lost started to actually understand their children in a deeper way.

But one of the most important pieces—the piece that I think is missing almost everywhere—is community.

Because in most settings, we separate people—by age, by ability, by diagnosis. And that separation doesn’t just limit access—it creates vulnerability. It takes kids out of real community and then asks why they struggle to participate in it.

At Rooted Beginnings, we’re building something different—a true, interdependent community. Kids of different ages, different needs, different ways of being, all existing together. Not in spite of those differences, but because of them.

Everyone has something to offer. Everyone belongs. And everyone benefits from being in a space where they’re both supported and valued.

This work is personal for me. It’s about creating the kinds of spaces I needed, and the kinds of spaces our kids deserve.

Because if we really want different outcomes, we have to stop asking neurodivergent people to change who they are—
and start building environments where they can actually exist, connect, and thrive as themselves.”

📅 Mark Your Calendar!

Join me this April at the State Capitol for two events focused on advocacy, awareness, and action:

🔹 Autism Action Day
🗓 Wednesday, April 22, 2026

🔹 Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day (46th Annual)
🗓 Wednesday, April 29, 2026

These events bring together advocates, families, and leaders to highlight priorities for people with disabilities and continue pushing for a more inclusive and accessible New York.

I hope you’ll join us. More details to come!

04/21/2026

Make sure to register! This public meeting always has time for public comments. This is one way you can have your voice heard in Albany.

Join in on the Autism Spectrum Disorders Advisory Board Meeting Wednesday, April 22. Find meeting details here: bit.ly/ASD042226

04/20/2026

Join in on the Autism Spectrum Disorders Advisory Board Meeting Wednesday, April 22. Find meeting details here: bit.ly/ASD042226

04/19/2026

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-health-reimagined/202604/its-time-to-rethink-the-anxiety-drives-pda-narrative

A client shared this PDA article with me—and I think we need to really look at what is happening here, not just what is being said.

Because this isn’t just about PDA.

It’s about who gets to define what “real” is in children’s mental health—and what happens when that authority goes unquestioned.

The article is written by Paul Sunseri, a psychologist, researcher, and developer of Intensive Family-Focused Therapy (IFFT), a structured behavioral intervention model for families.

That sounds like credibility.

But credibility is not the same thing as neutrality.

And it is not the same thing as separation from influence, professional investment, or outcome.

Because when you actually follow the thread of the article, it doesn’t just review research.

It guides interpretation.

It leads the reader toward a very specific conclusion:
PDA is not truly distinct
anxiety is not the driver
demand avoidance is better explained through personality traits, oppositional patterns, and family conflict cycles
and behavioral, parent-management approaches are the most effective response

That is not a neutral synthesis of science.

That is a directional framework.

And it matters where that direction leads.

Because IFFT—the model developed by the author—is built on structured family-based behavioral intervention.

It focuses on changing interaction patterns, increasing adaptive responses, and reshaping parent-child dynamics through guided behavioral strategies.

So when an article critiques “low-demand” or nervous-system-informed approaches, while simultaneously promoting interpretations that align with behavioral correction models, we are not just reading science.

We are reading a system of belief about children that aligns with a professional and clinical pathway.

And that is where things start to feel very different.

Because PDA gets reframed in a very specific way:
Instead of nervous system overwhelm, we get:
low agreeableness
low conscientiousness
high reactivity personality profiles
Instead of demand-related shutdown or panic, we get:
oppositionality
coercive cycles
behavioral resistance

Instead of internal overwhelm, we get external behavior problems.

And once that shift happens, the entire intervention logic changes.

Because if a child is “resisting,” then the solution is increasing structure.

If a child is “oppositional,” then the solution is improving compliance.

If the problem is “family cycles,” then the solution is modifying those cycles through behavior-based intervention.

But if the problem is nervous system overload?

Then the solution is something very different.

Reduction.

Lowering demands.

Safety before skill-building.

Connection before correction.

That is the core disagreement that gets flattened in articles like this.

And it is not a small difference.

It is a completely different model of what distress means.

There is also something deeper we need to address.

Western clinical psychology has a long history of centering professional interpretation over lived experience.

It has repeatedly translated:
survival responses into “noncompliance”
nervous system overwhelm into “behavior problems”
difference into “deficit”
and distress into something to be corrected rather than understood

And that history matters here.

Because when we read articles like this, we are not just reading data.

We are reading interpretation filtered through systems that have historically defined which kinds of knowledge count as “evidence.”

So we have to ask harder questions:
Who is positioned as the expert?
What frameworks are assumed as “normal”?
What kinds of children are being imagined in this narrative?
And what happens when those assumptions meet real families in crisis?

There is also something that often goes unspoken in pieces like this:
The author is not just describing a problem.
He is also offering a pathway forward.
One that aligns with his own clinical model, published work, and professional ecosystem of training and family programs.

That does not make it illegitimate.

But it does mean it is not neutral.

And families rarely experience it as “a perspective.”

They experience it as the answer.

Especially when they are exhausted, scared, and trying to understand their child.

One of the most important tensions here is the contrast between models.

PDA-informed approaches are built on the idea that when a child is overwhelmed, we reduce demands.
We do not escalate them.
We do not interpret distress primarily as defiance.
We do not center compliance as the goal.

IFFT and other structured behavioral models, by contrast, are built on the idea that change happens through modifying interaction patterns, expectations, and responses within the family system.

Both are trying to reduce distress.

But they start from completely different assumptions:
One asks:
“How do we reduce overload so the nervous system can regulate?”
The other asks:
“How do we change behavior patterns within the system so demands can be better tolerated?”

Those are not the same question.

And they do not lead to the same kind of care.

There is also something visually and culturally worth noticing.

The article is paired with an image of a blond white child, authored by a white male clinician.

And while those details may seem incidental, they are part of a larger pattern in clinical psychology:
Who is centered as the “default child”
Who is granted interpretive authority
Whose experiences are treated as universal

And whose are more likely to be pathologized, questioned, or reframed

From a decolonizing lens, this is not about individual identity as blame.

It is about systems of authority.

Because Western psychological frameworks have historically defined “expertise” in ways that elevate institutional knowledge above lived, relational, and neurodivergent knowledge.

And that shapes everything that follows.

So what do we do with all of this?

We don’t have to reject the article completely.

But we also don’t have to accept its framing as truth.

We can slow down enough to ask:
What is being centered as “real”?
What is being minimized or reframed?
What model of the child is underneath this interpretation?

And what direction does this point families toward?

Because at the end of the day, this is not just about PDA.

It is about what we believe children are communicating when they struggle.

And what we choose to do in response.

And those choices are never neutral.

They shape relationships.

They shape identity.

And they shape whether a child is seen as resisting us…
or telling us something we haven’t yet fully understood.

And that deserves more humility than certainty.

We know PDA and anxiety travel together—just as they do in ADHD and ODD—but what if anxiety is the exhaust, not the engine, of chronic interpersonal and demand conflict?

04/19/2026

Join Me at Autism Action Day in Albany

On Autism Action Day, advocates, legislators, and community members from across New York gather at the New York State Capitol to push for meaningful change. This day—hosted by Angelo Santabarbara—brings together people across political lines to support legislation that directly impacts autistic individuals and their families.

Last year, there were powerful moments—especially when autistic self-advocates spoke about their lives, their needs, and their right to exist fully in this world. That’s what this day is really about: real people, real voices, shaping policy.

And this year, I’ll be there—with a table.

But here’s the reality:
Western New York is critically underrepresented in these spaces.

While people travel from across the state to advocate, our region is often missing from the room.

I will likely be the only person there representing WNY communities—and that matters more than it should.

Because decisions are being made with or without us.

If we want:
better access to services
neuroaffirming supports
equitable education
real inclusion in our communities
…we need to show up where those decisions are happening.

That’s why I’m inviting you to come with me.

You do not need to be an expert.
You do not need to have the “right” words.
You just need to be willing to be present.

There is space at my table.

There is space for your voice.

Whether you are a parent, an educator, a provider, or an autistic adult—your presence matters.

Being in the room shifts things. It changes conversations. It reminds legislators that Western New York exists, and that we care deeply about how policy impacts our community.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated by systems…
If you’ve ever wanted things to be different…
If you’ve ever thought, “someone should say something”…
This is that moment.

Come stand with me.

If you’re interested in attending or joining my table, let me know—I would love to have you alongside me. Email me at rootedbeginningswny@gmail.com for more details!

📅 Mark Your Calendar!

Join me this April at the State Capitol for two events focused on advocacy, awareness, and action:

🔹 Autism Action Day
🗓 Wednesday, April 22, 2026

🔹 Legislative Disabilities Awareness Day (46th Annual)
🗓 Wednesday, April 29, 2026

These events bring together advocates, families, and leaders to highlight priorities for people with disabilities and continue pushing for a more inclusive and accessible New York.

I hope you’ll join us. More details to come!

04/19/2026

Rooted Beginnings, LLC supports families and children across Western New York through inclusive, relationship-based developmental programs. Offerings include low-demand playgroups, homeschooling support, 1:1 DIRFloortime® sessions, and guidance with IEPs and school advocacy in a home-like, non-clinical setting.

Support growth, connection, and confidence every step of the way 👉 www.wnythrive.com/listings/rooted-beginnings

04/19/2026

🌱☘️💚

Rooted Beginnings, LLC supports families and children across Western New York through inclusive, relationship-based developmental programs. Offerings include low-demand playgroups, homeschooling support, 1:1 DIRFloortime® sessions, and guidance with IEPs and school advocacy in a home-like, non-clinical setting.

Support growth, connection, and confidence every step of the way 👉 www.wnythrive.com/listings/rooted-beginnings

04/16/2026

Join me! As always public comments are welcomed.

Join in on the Autism Spectrum Disorders Advisory Board Meeting Wednesday, April 22. Find meeting details here: bit.ly/ASD042226

04/11/2026

I am proud to be on this list! I will be facilitating a support group through PDA North America - Pathological Demand Avoidance for parents starting May 2026.