Course Description:

This training provides an in-depth examination of how to interpret autism assessment data in high-masking and under-identified presentations. Intended for licensed psychologists and advanced mental health professionals with prior experience in autism assessment, the session emphasizes clinical reasoning and pattern recognition rather than checklist-based diagnosis. Participants will review how commonly used assessment tools (e.g., SRS-2, SCQ, ADOS-2, CARS-2) function in practice and how results may appear subthreshold, discrepant, or inconsistent in clients who mask or compensate.

The training focuses on integrating multiple data sources, including caregiver and teacher reports, standardized measures, clinical observation, interviews, and qualitative information, to support accurate diagnostic formulation. Special attention is given to interpreting discrepancies across informants and measures, understanding the clinical meaning of “average” or conflicting scores, and differentiating autism from overlapping or co-occurring conditions.

Case-based composite profiles are used to illustrate common assessment patterns and support applied learning, and the session addresses how findings can be translated into clear, accurate, and neurodiversity-affirming feedback for families and interdisciplinary teams.

Course Rationale:

Accurate identification of autism requires more than the application of standardized cutoff scores, particularly in high-masking and under-identified presentations. Many commonly used assessment instruments emphasize observable behaviors and were normed on samples that underrepresent female, people of color, and average-to-advanced cognitive abilities. As a result, providers may encounter subthreshold, discrepant, or ambiguous findings when evaluating clients who mask, compensate, or present with nuanced autistic traits. Without adequate training in data integration and interpretation, these patterns may be misattributed to anxiety, mood, or behavioral disorders, contributing to delayed or missed diagnosis.

This training addresses a practice-based gap in autism assessment by focusing on clinical reasoning and pattern recognition rather than checklist-style diagnosis. Although providers are routinely trained in administration and scoring of tools autism-specific tools, less emphasis is placed on understanding their limitations, integrating qualitative data, and interpreting discrepancies across informants and measures. These challenges are particularly salient when assessment data appear internally inconsistent, placing clinicians at risk of over-reliance on single measures or under-weighting contextual and developmental information.

By emphasizing multi-source data integration within a neurodiversity-affirming framework, this training supports competent, ethical, and evidence-informed psychological practice. The content promotes careful differential diagnosis, reduces diagnostic bias, and enhances providers' ability to formulate and communicate conclusions that are clinically defensible, respectful of client identity, and useful for treatment planning and collaboration with families and systems.

Course Objectives

At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

1. Analyze common patterns associated with high-masking and under-identified autism presentations that contribute to subthreshold or discrepant assessment findings.
2. Compare and contrast how results from commonly used autism assessment tools (e.g., BASC-3, SRS-2, SCQ, ADOS-2, CARS-2) may be influenced by masking, informant variability, and contextual factors.
3. Apply principles of multi-source data integration to clinical case material in order to support coherent and clinically defensible diagnostic reasoning.
4. Explain neurodiversity-affirming considerations relevant to interpreting and communicating autism assessment findings to families and interdisciplinary teams.
   
   

Neurodiversity Alliance is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Neurodiversity Alliance maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Neurodiversity Alliance is an approved continuing education provider by the National Board of Certified Counselors (ACEP #7510).

Continuing Education Information:

Upon completion of the course, an evaluation and check for understanding will be provided. After passing the check for understanding, you will be provided a certificates of completion. This process is automated; you may also access your certificate through your Teachable account.

This training provides 1.5 hours of NBCC-accredited continuing education. (ACEP #7510)

Registration Requirements:

This program is open to any mental health professional, medical professional, or educator who supports the mental wellbeing of neurodivergent people. Continuing education hours are limited to those with graduate degrees in a mental health field.

In order to register, you will need to create a free Teachable account to access the course. Once you have registered for the course, you have lifetime access to it and any future updates.

This program and its instructors receive no commercial support, and there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.