[Quick Tip] Do All Autistic Kids Need Therapy?
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Why do people claim that autistic children don’t need therapy?
Recently, I posted about something that I was scared to talk about because I was worried that my opinion would be so far off from what most people believed. And it was about this idea that I continuously see, you know, posted on social media, which is just because a child is autistic doesn't mean that they need therapy. And I feel like I had kind of a unique view on this, which is why I was so nervous to share it. But let's talk through that today.
What's up, everyone, and welcome to Making the Shift for Autistic Kids.
We're an SLP couple from California with four boys.
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How can an autistic child appear high‑functioning yet still struggle internally?
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So oftentimes on social media, I see this post, you know, type of post or sentiments that just because a child is autistic doesn't mean that they need therapy. And while I get what they're saying, what they're saying is just because a child has an autism diagnosis doesn't necessarily mean that they're struggling in different parts of their life and that they need support, right? And you guys have heard me talk recently about a child, for example, that I screened who did amazing on language assessment, but then turns out that child had a lot of other struggles going on in the classroom that I wouldn't have been aware about if I hadn't asked the teacher about what they were. So I think a couple of things.
What reasons does the host give for believing every autistic child could benefit from therapy?
First of all, I think every person, child or adult under the sun would benefit from therapy. I know I have benefited from therapy in the past tremendously, and I truly feel like every autistic child would benefit from therapy as well. I think that when we say just because a child's autistic doesn't mean they need therapy, I think, you know, quote these kids that we're talking about, are often the kids who are struggling internally the most. It may not be so obvious to us from the outside. We may not see everything that's going on with them internally. But these kids we're talking about who have great language skills and have been masking enough to fit in for so long are often the kids who are struggling the most, at least emotionally.
and with their self-identity and self-acceptance and self-esteem.
Why is it important to avoid “bad” therapy and choose neurodiversity‑affirming care?
And I truly believe that every child would benefit from getting to learn more about their emotional regulation and what those needs are, learning more about how to unmask and if they want to unmask, how they can do that, or Obviously, that's a decision that they get to make, but learning more about how to advocate for their needs, learning more about their sensory needs, learning more about how to find friends and create friendships that are authentic to them. So I feel like it's a little bit invalidating that statement of, you know, that not every autistic kid needs therapy because I think a lot of times we make that assumption based off of what we're perceiving as opposed to what's actually going on within a child.
So I think that's an important point. distinction distinction that we need to make is we really need to consider what's best for the child and there were a lot of autistic people who chimed in and said i completely agree with this like i'm now 30 years old i'm now 40 years old and i learned to mask and i could have benefited so much from therapy to learn more about myself when i was younger stuff like that but i will say that and i've said this before i truly believe that bad therapy is worse than no therapy So if there is no neurodiversity affirming therapy around, then that would not be my recommendation, right? I would never just say, put your kid in therapy because they're autistic and it doesn't matter what type of therapy or what type of therapist you're going to see, right?
We had some parents comment on my post saying that, unfortunately, they just don't have access to anti-affirming care.
How can parents find qualified neuro‑affirming therapists through the NeuroAffirm directory?
And for them, they felt that it's just better for their child to be home and for the parent to essentially, you know, act as their therapist, which is completely possible also.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why do people claim that autistic children don’t need therapy?
0:00–0:49
2
How can an autistic child appear high‑functioning yet still struggle internally?
0:49–1:43
3
What reasons does the host give for believing every autistic child could benefit from therapy?
1:43–2:40
4
Why is it important to avoid “bad” therapy and choose neurodiversity‑affirming care?
2:40–4:28
5
How can parents find qualified neuro‑affirming therapists through the NeuroAffirm directory?
4:28–5:48
6
What final actions does the episode encourage listeners to take?
5:48–6:21
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The NeuroAffirm Podcast
Ep. 125 How to Run Successful Social Groups
Ep. 124 Building Rapport Isn’t Enough...How Therapists Become Part of the Intervention
Ep. 123 Not Seeing Progress in Speech Therapy? Start Here.
Ep. 122 Screen Time Considerations for Autistic Kids
Ep. 121 The Biggest Sensory Mistakes SLPs Make
Ep. 120 Why Anxiety is So Common in Autism (And What Actually Helps)