Scott Shepherd has ADHD, and he didn't have real language for what that meant until he became a teacher and started building accommodations into his own classroom — timers, visual cues, time outside. What he didn't expect: those accommodations helped every student, not just the ones who needed them most.
This week's guest discovered the same principle from the opposite side of the desk. Emily Wishnick is an occupational therapist and creator of the Hundred Languages of Regulation, a framework helping educators understand how children communicate regulatory needs through movement, behavior, play, and interaction. After over a decade visiting classrooms across Philadelphia, Emily saw the same developmentally inappropriate patterns repeat endlessly — until she built a system to fix the root cause instead of treating one child at a time.
In this episode:
— What occupational therapy actually is, and why most people have never heard an accurate description of it
— Sensory processing as the foundation of how children learn, regulate, and develop
— The burnout that led Emily to build the Hundred Languages of Regulation framework
— Why climbing, open-ended play, and time outdoors do more for kids developmentally than most structured lesson plans
— A real example of underfunded schools handing screens to children who can't nap — and why it's developmentally costly
— Research connecting early outdoor access to long-term comfort and reduced fear around natural spaces (Bixler, Carlisle & Hammitt, 1994)
— What policy changes Emily believes every early childhood program needs
— Why your own emotional regulation affects every person you interact with
ABOUT EMILY WISHNICK Occupational therapist (OTR/L) and creator of the Hundred Languages of Regulation. Over a decade of experience across early childhood and K-12 settings in the Philadelphia region. Click here to learn more or contact Emily: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-wishnick-ot-746523a5?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
ABOUT YOUR HOST Scott Shepherd is the founder of Wildward Institute, based in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. 🌿 wildwardinstitute.net
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