What is Autism-Informed Therapy & How Can it Help?

WHAT IS AUTISM-INFORMED THERAPY?

Basically, autism-informed therapy is standard therapy customized for the needs of autistic individuals. Therapeutic sessions are often custom tailored to meet sensory needs, as well as reduce communication barriers. Your therapist will be happy to explore accommodation options with you, so even if you don’t know what you may need, your therapist will have tools available to help you explore your options!

ABOUT AUTISM

How Being Autistic Affects Individuals’ Social and Academic Life

Being autistic means having different strengths and needs than others. For example, those who are autistic can be more detail-oriented and can be motivated learners when topics align with their interests. As such, navigating school systems can be challenging at times, as schools often require individuals to learn a variety of topics. For some autistic individuals, having a particular topic fall outside their interests can make it difficult to focus.

Furthermore, due to schools often expecting a strict set of behaviours at certain times, the academic environment itself can be difficult for some autistic adults to participate in. For example, schools may enforce certain evaluation rules that may be triggering to some autistic people (class presentations for example may be too socially overstimulating). This rigidity in certain academic environments can serve as obstacles for some autistic people to navigate. Furthermore, there is often unspoken rules in some academic programs that individuals are expected to socialize. This can also lead to overstimulation some some autistic people, causing stress.

AUTISTIC-INFORMED THERAPY BENEFITS

The Many Benefits of Autistic-Informed Therapy

Working with an autistic-informed therapist means that unlike in other forms of therapies, your needs can often be accommodated. Your therapist will understand that you may have various sensitivities that can make participating in standard therapy processes difficult. Together with your therapist, these needs can be discussed and collaborative plans can be created to help you feel better able to participate in therapy. Examples of accommodations used in the past include:

Changes in lighting intensities
No obligation to stick to video or telephone counselling
Direct language used in interventions
Session summaries offered in text format
& More

Autism is often misunderstood, as many people don’t realize that each autistic person has their own unique set of strengths. More and more, as research continues to develop, there has been a shift away from seeing autism as a “disorder” that needs to be fixed. Instead, more of the community is seeing autism as a variance in neurotype.

Seeking therapy to strengthen your self-understanding will help you improve your stress management and help you to reach your goals. At Unique Peace Counselling, we’ve made it our goal to help autistic individuals by giving them the tools and confidence to lead lives that complement their natural way of being.

Reach out to us to learn more about the benefits of autism-informed counselling and book your first appointment today.

What is Autism-Informed Therapy & How Can it Help?