"Screaming into the void"—this describes the experiences of many neurodivergent clients who come to therapy seeking our support. Often, they have encountered helping professionals who have overlooked, dismissed, or invalidated their unique identities and needs. If you aspire to be the difference but are unsure where to start, The Neuroaffirmative Therapy Handbook: A Practitioner's Guide to Working with Autism and ADHD is an essential resource. Authored by an autistic and ADHD therapist, this guide will explore how you can provide informed and affirming care that’s specifically tailored to your client’s neurodivergent identities. Inside, clinicians will discover: • Insights into the nuances of neurodivergence. • Common barriers to achieving accurate diagnosis. • Detailed information on neurodivergent traits, behaviors, co-occurring conditions, and challenges. • An exploration of how structural ableism contributes to attachment insecurity and heightened exposure to trauma. • Techniques for building rapport and delivering effective psychoeducation. • Strategies to address counterdependence and enhance client engagement. • Methods to identify and alleviate neurodivergent stress responses. • Comprehensive action plans designed to improve executive function and mental flexibility. • Reviews of popular therapeutic modalities, including an introduction to a new approach specifically designed to address complex PTSD. • Essential guidelines on the dos and don’ts of neuroaffirming therapy. • Strategies to help clients cultivate personal growth, find community, and achieve fulfillment. Using The Neuroaffirmative Therapy Handbook, you’ll gain access to a comprehensive suite of tools designed to empower autistic and ADHD clients to lead lives rich with connection, satisfaction, and meaning.

Adult autism assessment is a new and fast-growing clinical area, for which professionals often feel ill-equipped. Autistic adults are often misdiagnosed which has enormous implications for their mental health. This accessible and comprehensive adult autism assessment handbook covers the most up to date research and best practice around adult autism assessment, centering the person's internal experiences and sense-making in clinical assessment, rather than subjective observation, thus providing the clinician with a truly paradigm shifting Neuro-Affirmative approach to autism assessment. Traditional clinical assessment tools are comprehensively explored and unpacked to enable the clinician to have full confidence in aligning traditional criteria to the Autistic person's subjective experiences. Full of additional resources like language guidelines and an exploration of the common intersections between Autistic experience and the effects of trauma, mental health and more, this book supplies a breadth of knowledge on key areas that affect Autistic adults in everyday life. The mixed team of neurotypical and neurodivergent authors describe lived experience of Autistic adults, a how-to for conducting Neuro-Affirmative assessments and post-assessment support, alongside reflections from practice. This book also has a directory of further resources including downloadable forms that you can use to prepare for your own assessments and a downloadable deep dive into Autistic perception. This guide will also support professionals through every step of the assessment process.

Navigating the "neurotypical" world with Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism (AS/HFA) can be extremely stressful. But by understanding the specific ways your brain works differently--and how to tap into your personal strengths--you can greatly enhance your well-being. In this wise and practical book, experienced therapist Valerie L. Gaus helps you identify goals that will make your life better and take concrete steps to achieve them. Grounded in psychological science, the techniques in this book help you: *Learn the unspoken rules of social situations.*Improve your communication skills.*Get organized at home and at work.*Manage anxiety and depression.*Strengthen your relationships with family and friends.*Live more successfully on your own or with others. A wealth of stories, questionnaires, worksheets, and concrete examples help you find personalized solutions to problems you are likely to encounter. You can download and print additional copies of the worksheets for repeated use. Of special note, the Introduction was updated in 2017 with the latest information on how autism spectrum disorder is defined in DSM-5. Finally, a compassionate, knowledgeable, positive guide to living well on the spectrum. Mental health professionals, see also the author's Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Second Edition.

Revision of: Cognitive-behavioral therapy for adult Asperger syndrome. c2007.

Provides a sensitive, practical approach to managing a child's severe noncompliance. temper outbursts and verbal or physical aggression at home and school. May also be useful for parents of children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD).

This open access book marks the first historical overview of the autism rights branch of the neurodiversity movement, describing the activities and rationales of key leaders in their own words since it organized into a unique community in 1992. Sandwiched by editorial chapters that include critical analysis, the book contains 19 chapters by 21 authors about the forming of the autistic community and neurodiversity movement, progress in their influence on the broader autism community and field, and their possible threshold of the advocacy establishment. The actions covered are legendary in the autistic community, including manifestos such as “Don’t Mourn for Us”, mailing lists, websites or webpages, conferences, issue campaigns, academic project and journal, a book, and advisory roles. These actions have shifted the landscape toward viewing autism in social terms of human rights and identity to accept, rather than as a medical collection of deficits and symptoms to cure.