Clinical Round Table 20 - Promoting CBT Access for Autistic Clients: Successful Collaboration Across Professional Domains & Multiple Settings

Many Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) practitioners who are not autism specialists find themselves on interdisciplinary teams working with autistic patients. They may want to provide neuro-affirming care, but struggle with outdated treatment silos, misinformation, and ableist assumptions within the mental health and medical fields. Despite increased rates of mental health conditions for autistic individuals, many clinicians incorrectly believe that CBT must be fundamentally different for these clients or require extensive specialized training, rather than flexibly tailoring existing interventions. Others may hold outdated or inaccurate views about autism, leading to underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis, ineffective interventions, or the exclusion of autistic individuals from needed care. As one in 36 children are diagnosed with autism, CBT practitioners across diverse settings (e.g., private practice, schools, IOPs, hospitals, emergency rooms) are increasingly encountering autistic clients. However, barriers such as diagnostic overshadowing, provider knowledge gaps, provider apprehension/lack of support, and systemic biases make it difficult for autistic individuals to access high-quality, affirming care. This clinical roundtable will empower CBT practitioners with practical tools to bridge the gap between rigorous, evidence-based therapy and inclusive, neuro-affirming care. Through discussion and case vignettes, we will explore: case conceptualization that integrates functional assessment with an understanding of neurodevelopmental profiles, ways to advocate for neuro-affirming CBT and medical care within interdisciplinary teams, incorporating autistic community members' perspectives and collaborating with community partners, navigating collaboration challenges with well-meaning professionals who hold erroneous or non-affirming beliefs about autism, and supporting client self-advocacy and helping families navigate unchanging or ableist systems. By the end of this session, attendees will feel more confident in implementing CBT with autistic individuals across diverse care settings and will be better equipped to promote neuro-affirming, evidence-based interventions in interdisciplinary teams.