Autistic adults often move through healthcare systems that are not always designed around their communication preferences, sensory needs, or lived experiences. This can contribute to delayed or missed diagnoses, misunderstood or misattributed symptoms, and clinical encounters that feel more burdensome and distressing than intended. To support practical and immediate improvements, we developed two resources:
The information sheet provides clinicians with a concise, evidence-informed overview of common experiences reported by many autistic adults. It highlights how autistic burnout may be misinterpreted as depression, how alexithymia can affect the description of pain and emotions, how trauma responses may present differently across adults, and how camouflaging can reduce the visibility of both autistic characteristics and distress in some contexts.
For health professionals, these tools support structured discussion of communication preferences, sensory adjustments, and relevant mental and physical health concerns. The aim is to reduce miscommunication during assessment and care.
The companion form supports translation of knowledge into practice. It provides autistic adults with a structured, low-pressure way to communicate their needs, including preferred communication style, sensory adjustments, what helps during shutdowns, and the specific concerns they want to discuss. Rather than relying on in-session explanation, which can be harder under stress, the form can improve clarity before the appointment begins.
For autistic adults, the form functions as a structured self-advocacy tool. It places key needs in writing before the appointment, reducing reliance on verbal explanation and limiting avoidable cognitive demands. For clinicians, it provides patient-led information that supports neurodiversity-affirming care that is clear, personalised, and respectful.
Together, these tools support a more collaborative clinical encounter. They can help autistic adults feel better understood and support care that is more accurate, more informative, and more person-centred.
These tools complement, rather than replace, clinical assessment and should be used alongside standard clinical processes.
These resources provide brief, practice-facing supports that can be implemented immediately within routine appointments. For clinicians seeking deeper, structured professional learning to strengthen diagnostic assessment processes and neuroaffirming support, they align with two complementary masterclasses focused on autistic and/or AuDHD adults. Both masterclasses are available live in Melbourne and via webcast.
This masterclass builds discipline-specific capability in adult diagnostic assessment, including DSM-5-TR criteria for autism and ADHD, research-supported characteristics not captured in diagnostic manuals, and recognition of adaptations such as camouflaging and compensation. It also addresses best-practice approaches to ensure assessment processes are therapeutic rather than stigmatising, differential considerations for co-occurring mental health and medical conditions (including trauma and complex trauma), and guidance for report preparation and feedback delivery.
This masterclass extends learning into clinical support and therapy, integrating biological, psychological, and social contributors to mental health for neurodivergent adults, and practical adaptations to maximise therapeutic effectiveness across modalities. It emphasises lived experience, foundations of neurodiversity-affirming practice, strategies to support safe unmasking and positive identity development, and clinical considerations relevant to common co-occurring presentations, including autistic burnout, depression, anxiety, and trauma.
