Rethinking Autism Assessments: Seeing Strengths, Not Just Deficits

Have you ever walked into a therapy session feeling anxious, unsure how to connect with your autistic client or student? Maybe you’ve wondered:

“Are they meeting the goals I’ve set… or am I missing something bigger?”

If you’ve felt overwhelmed, stuck, or worried about accidentally triggering your client, you’re not alone. Many parents, teachers, and therapists share this experience.

The truth is—our perceptions shape everything. How we see behaviors determines how we respond. But what if our perception isn’t accurate? What if we’re interpreting an autistic individual’s actions through a non-autistic lens… and getting it wrong?

That’s where real change begins.

Moving Beyond Behavior: A Neuro-Strengths-Based Lens

When we stop labeling behaviors as “problems” and start asking, What is this person telling me about their brain, their needs, and their strengths?—we open the door to a new kind of autism assessment.

Our Neuro-Strengths-Based Support for Autism framework shifts the focus from fixing deficits to understanding brain differences. Through this approach, we identify:

• Strengths: reliable skills and motivators that can be built on

• Potential strengths: areas the individual is trying to grow in

• Barriers: situations or demands that get in the way of success

• Triggers: experiences that overwhelm the nervous system

This method of strengths-based assessment gives us clearer insight than standardized tests alone. We start to see stimming not as “interference,” but as self-regulation. We recognize frustration not as defiance, but as communication.

💡 The key is this: understanding autistic brain differences changes the way you assess, teach, and connect.

In this week’s video, Susan Golubock (autistic retired OT) and Staci (SLP) unpack why perception matters in autism assessments—and how reframing behaviors through a neurodiversity-affirming lens can transform your sessions.

And if you want to be the first to access our updated autism assessment tools this October, join the waitlist today HERE.

Because when you change your perception, you change everything about the support you provide.

👉 Watch the full conversation here: