Description: Elena’s developmental journey continues through critical phases of development as she moves forward in her second year of life. Her parents grow in their understanding of her developmental milestones and as she learns to use her sensory and motor skills with more power, step by step each day, she becomes even more curious to understand her parents’ facial gesture, the overtures of her two-month older friend and the energy that comes from communication and interaction. Join us in her journey as we continue to point out different milestones and patterns of development that causes children to thrive and take on the world with naivete, bravado and curiosity. At the end of each webinar Millicent points out her own reflections during this phase of development.  

Who needs to attend this recorded series: 

• Any professional working in child development and wanting to understand different ages and stages 

• The milestones achieved in this phase of development form serious gaps in academics, social and physical development in older stages of life when not achieved or sustained 

• If you are a parent of a same age child, the tips and ideas might be helpful in attaining a growth mindset in your child 

• If you are a parent of an older child and you want to understand why your child seems stuck at a certain phase of development 

Maude Le Roux partners with Millicent Viljoen, an occupational therapist, and a mother, through this series of workshops. Through Covid19 Millicent, residing in the UK, recorded her precious little girl every day to send to her family in South Africa so all could feel a part of her newfound motherhood and baby. As Maude provides the learning from research, her experience, and workshops, Millicent will be interviewed as a mother and discuss her growth and decisions she had to make, while also showing recorded samples of her child’s development. This fourth track will follow her development from 19 to 24 months wherein much development takes place including research and science, but also the emotional wonder of motherhood. The information shared will be rich in understanding of children of all ages. Parents and professionals working with any age will benefit, as so many children struggling with developmental delay display areas of “stuckness” in these early experiences. The next series will focus on ages 25 to 30 months and will be released in winter 2025. 

Outline / Agenda:  

Session 1: Sensory, reflexes and gross motor skills 

Session 2: Play and Socio-Emotional Development 

Session 3: The DIR/Floortime Functional Emotional Capacities 

Session 4: Communication and Language 

Session 5: Activities of Daily Living 

Session 6: Building cognition and problem-solving skills 

 Learning Objectives: 

• Consider the impact of parent attunement and responsiveness to the temperament and sensory profile of their toddler 

• List remaining primary reflexes and their timelines for integration 

• Focus on the impact of sensory development on achieving gross motor milestones 

• Discover the continued power of non-verbal communication and growing verbal skills to support social-emotional growth 

• Consider multiple practical ideas to support development of 8 sensory systems. 

• Discuss at least 4 considerations for activities of daily during this impactful stage of brain development 
• Track the growing strength of problem-solving skills during this growth period 

Assessment: Completion of Feedback Form 

Provider Name: The Maude Le Roux Academy 

Presenter: Maude Le Roux, OTR/L (US) and Millicent Viljoen (UK) 

Bio: Maude Le Roux is an inspiration to many professionals and parents across the globe.  Her workshops are popular and previous feedback included much praise. Maude was born and raised in South Africa and graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town in 1984. Maude and Charl Le Roux moved to the USA in 1993 and opened A Total Approach in September 2001. Maude is SIPT certified and specializes in Sensory Integration services as it applies to functional activities of daily living, including improving the ability of children / students of all ages to partake in their learning environment.  

Maude uses the practice of Sensory Integration at her center as a base for all her work. She designs her own live courses with regards to different areas of development and the impact on functional performance, activities of daily living, including the impact on academic performance. Maude works with a team of occupational therapists and speech language pathologists in her center She is well known for her experience and work with children with multiple different diagnosis, ages and stages and has expanded her work to adults, who continue to struggle with sensory processing. Maude has been trained in the DIR/Floortime Method since the late 90’s and became an expert training leader for ICDL in 2011. Her center is recognized as a DIR Certified center in the US. She is a mentor to many therapists, including OT, SLP and DIR professionals internationally. She opened the Maude Le Roux Academy online in January 2019. Maude has presented at conferences in a variety of settings across the US and internationally. She has co-authored the book, The Listening Journey, with Francoise Nicoloff, and her second book, Our Greatest Allies, is now available on Amazon.com.  

Millicent Viljoen is an Occupational Therapist based in Bath, United Kingdom. After moving to the UK in 2019, having a baby during the Covid19 pandemic, and taking a two-year hiatus, she founded Whole Occupational Therapy, a pediatric focused practice.   Originally from South Africa, she has worked in the pediatric field since qualifying as an Occupational Therapist in 2010, from the University of Pretoria.  Millicent is SIPT certified and specializes in Sensory Integration. She works closely with children and their families, especially focusing on coaching parents through the developmental stages of child development. She works with a range of developmental delays, ASD, and sensory processing difficulties.   Millicent incorporates the DIR Floortime framework in her work. She is an Expert training leader for ICDL since 2019 and is a mentor for likeminded professionals. 

Maude and Millicent met in 2011 when Maude was teaching DIR/Floortime in South Africa, starting a training foundation which evolved into a mentoring relationship and now, a partnership of working and training together. They share a deep interest in developmental relational frameworks. 

Special Needs Accommodation: We invite anyone who may need a specific accommodation to contact [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate your needs.  

Cancellation policy: Payment is due in full with registration through PayPal on this website. Due to access to recordings provided there will be no reimbursement for cancellations. Please contact [email protected] if you have any further questions in this regard. 

Target Audience: Occupational Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Physical Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, Educators, Parents 

Educational Level: Intermediary 

Number of Participants: Unlimited 

Instructional Methods: PowerPoint, Video, Interview 

Contact Hours: 9 hours 

Fee: $225