Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies 60th Annual Convention
Autistic adults frequently interact with multiple service systems, including family supports, mental health providers, primary care and medical specialists, and social service systems, yet many providers report limited training in how to adapt evidence-based interventions for this population (Maddox et al., 2020). These gaps are particularly evident for autistic adults with co-occurring mental health conditions, intellectual disability, or significant behavioral support needs. The primary goal of this clinical roundtable is to discuss strategies for adapting existing evidence-based intervention and training approaches to better support autistic adults with diverse support needs across systems of care.
This roundtable will bring together researchers, clinicians, and individuals with lived experience to discuss programs that illustrate these adaptations in practice. Panelists will highlight examples of programs that adapt well-established evidence-based interventions, with emerging evidence from feasibility studies, program evaluations, and early trials supporting their use with autistic adults, including: (1) a family-based intervention designed to support independent skills and externalizing behaviors, (2) a psychoeducational training focused on increasing knowledge and understanding of the science and lived experience of autistic adults, (3) a training program focused on increasing mental health provider confidence and competence adapting cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and treating mental health concerns in autistic individuals with and without intellectual disability, (4) a continuing education course for mental health providers across disciplines focused on increasing awareness of the unique ways mental health concerns present in autistic adults and how to adapt CBT to offer individualized treatment, and (5) an initiative examining how community mental health clinicians adapt CBT and mindfulness based therapy (MBT) to fit the needs of autistic adults.
Consistent with this year’s ABCT theme of compassionate care in the mental health workforce, panelists will discuss how adapting evidence-based interventions across systems of care can support compassionate, autism-informed care for autistic adults.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
Describe key gaps in provider training and systems of care that affect the delivery of evidence-based interventions for autistic adults.
Discuss examples of programs that adapt existing evidence-based approaches to better support autistic adults.
Identify strategies for promoting compassionate, autism-informed care by increasing provider confidence in adapting interventions.
