How Do I Make a Social Communication Assessment More Neuro-Affirming?
You know “make eye contact during conversation” shouldn't be the goal.
You know autistic communication may look different from neurotypical communication—and different doesn't automatically mean deficient.
You don't want to assess an autistic student by checking how closely their communication matches neurotypical expectations.
But then a teacher comes to you and says, “They really need help with social skills.”
So you observe the student.
They can have a conversation.
They can answer questions.
They can talk about their interests.
They know how to interact with other people.
And now you're wondering:
What am I actually looking for?
Because something may genuinely be making communication, participation, or relationships harder for this student.
But a checklist of neurotypical social behaviors isn't necessarily going to tell you what that is.
What If the Social Skill Isn't the Real Barrier?
This is where I think neuro-affirming social communication assessment requires us to get much more curious.
Instead of only asking whether a student can perform a social communication skill, we can start asking what might be affecting their ability to access and use their communication skills when they need them.
For example:
Is self-awareness the barrier? Maybe the student knows something isn't working but doesn't yet recognize what feels hard or what support would help.
Is regulation getting in the way of learning or accessing a new skill? If their nervous system is overwhelmed, is teaching another conversation strategy really what they need at that moment?
Is it processing time? Maybe they understand the conversation but need more time to process what's being said and formulate a response.
Is there a communication mismatch? Maybe both people are interpreting the interaction differently.
Or does the student already have the skill—but have difficulty accessing it in a busy classroom, unfamiliar situation, group activity, or stressful moment?
Those lead us somewhere very different than:
“The student needs to improve their social skills.”
And There's Another Question We Need to Ask
What does the autistic student want help with?
Maybe they don't care about having longer conversations with peers.
But they do want to know how to tell a teacher when they're confused.
Maybe they don't want help joining a group at recess.
But they do want to understand when someone is joking versus being serious.
Maybe they don't want to change how their body looks during a conversation.
But they do want strategies for communicating when they're overwhelmed and can't get their words out.
Now we have information that can actually help us determine what support may be meaningful for this individual.
And that can completely change our assessment—and eventually our goals.
This Week, We're Talking About What We May Be Missing
In this week's Making Sense of Autism conversation, Susan and I talk about what changes when we approach autism assessment from a neuro-strengths-based perspective.
We talk about why seeing a student demonstrate a skill during an assessment doesn't necessarily tell us whether they can access and use that skill when they need it.
We talk about identifying the barriers underneath what we're observing.
And we talk about how the questions we ask during an assessment can change the goals we write afterward.
Because the goal isn't to ignore areas where an autistic student genuinely needs support.
It's to make sure we're supporting the right thing.
▶️ Watch this week's conversation to learn more about making your autism assessments more neuro-affirming.
Want a simple place to start?
Download our free 8 Social Communication Behaviors We May Be Misunderstanding guide.
It can help you start looking underneath behaviors you may see during an autism assessment or therapy session and ask a different question:
What might this be communicating?
👉 Get the free guide: www.makingsenseofautism.com/social-skills
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