A neurodiversity-affirming evaluation for adults
Maybe you've always known you experience the world differently. Maybe the realization arrived recently, through your child's diagnosis, or decades of exhaustion from performing a version of yourself that never quite fit. Many autistic adults, especially women and skilled maskers, were missed entirely or collected other labels along the way. If you're here, you may simply want to know, from someone qualified to say: Is this autism?
Understanding, not fixing
Autism is a difference in how a brain works, not a set of flaws to correct. You are the expert on your own experience; Dr. Clark's role is to guide the process of understanding it. A formal answer can matter practically through accommodations, more accurate mental health care, community, and in the way clients mention most: the relief of a life story that finally makes sense.
What the assessment includes
Adult autism assessment is genuinely difficult to do well, especially for adults who mask, so this is a comprehensive process, not a questionnaire. The evaluation includes an extended clinical interview covering your developmental history, sensory experiences, and social world; input, where comfortable, from someone who knows you well (helpful, not required); standardized adult measures interpreted with an understanding of masking and of how autism presents in frequently-missed groups; careful differential assessment; and a written report and feedback session with room for every question.
How it works
Interview and feedback are typically by secure telehealth, which many clients find more comfortable and more authentic than an unfamiliar office. Some measures are best administered in person, but often these evaluations can be fully completed in one visit via telehealth. Through PSYPACT, Dr. Clark serves adults in 40+ states. Check your state.
Frequently asked questions
I'm successful. I make eye contact. Can I still be autistic? Yes. Masking is common, and often precisely why earlier clinicians missed it. Its cost shows up as exhaustion and burnout. A good assessment looks underneath it.
Aren't online quizzes enough? They're a reasonable starting point, but they can't distinguish autism from everything that overlaps with it, and they carry no weight for accommodations or clinical care.
What if the answer is "not autism"? Then you'll learn what better explains your experience, with the same care and practical recommendations. You won't leave with a shrug.
Is there any downside to a formal diagnosis? Worth discussing honestly, and Dr. Clark will, including disclosure and records questions, before anything is finalized. What you do with an answer always remains your choice.
Aren't online quizzes enough? They're a reasonable starting point, but they can't distinguish autism from everything that overlaps with it, and they carry no weight for accommodations or clinical care.
What if the answer is "not autism"? Then you'll learn what better explains your experience, with the same care and practical recommendations. You won't leave with a shrug.
Is there any downside to a formal diagnosis? Worth discussing honestly, and Dr. Clark will, including disclosure and records questions, before anything is finalized. What you do with an answer always remains your choice.
