Understanding High-Masking Autism
Neuroaffirming Trainings Created by an Autistic/ADHD, Vanderbilt-Trained Neurodivergence Specialist
High-masking autism is widely misunderstood — unfortunately even within the mental health community.
High-masking autistic humans are often missed because they’ve developed meaningful, creative strategies to navigate environments and expectations that weren’t designed with their neurotype in mind. Strategies that have helped them survive a neurotypical world but often at great expense to their energy, mental health, and even sense of self.
Recognizing high-masking autism isn’t about labeling — it’s about clarity, self-understanding, belonging, access, and support. And it saves lives.
When someone understands their neurotype — whether as a teen, an adult, or much later in life — self-blame eases, needs become clearer, relationships shift, and new possibilities rooted in empowerment emerge. Recognition allows support to become aligned, identity to find language, and a lifetime of experience to finally make sense.
This training series offers a modern, non-pathologizing and identity-affirming framework for recognizing and supporting high-masking autism at any age.
Who These Trainings Are Designed For
The first two trainings are created for anyone and everyone who wants to learn more about autistic humans — including clinicians, educators, parents, caregivers, occupational therapists, support staff, and community members seeking a deeper, neuroaffirming understanding of high-masking autism.
The third training is specifically designed for clinicians involved in or interested in autism evaluation, including social workers, therapists, psychologists, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners, physicians, and other licensed mental health and medical providers.
Training Series Overview
1) The Basics - Exploring High-Masking Autism
Coming January 2026 • 1-2 Hours • On-Demand
A foundational introduction to high-masking autism — what it is, how it presents, why it is often missed, and when it may be appropriate to explore evaluation or supportive conversations.
Open to all: clinicians, educators, parents, caregivers, OTs, and community members.
2) Foundations - Inside the Neurotype
Coming February 2026 • 2–3 Hours • Live with Recording Access or On-Demand
A deeper exploration of autistic lived experience — including sensory processing, communication style, emotional regulation, executive functioning, burnout, and identity development across the lifespan. What constitutes
Open to all: clinicians, educators, parents, caregivers, OTs, and community members.
3) Neuroaffirming Evaluation Training - Assessing High-Masking Autism in Teens & Adults
Coming March 2026 • Multiple Sessions TBD • Live with Recording Access or On-Demand
Professional training for clinicians interested in evaluation — including narrative-informed interviewing focusing on the client’s lived experiences, masking-aware differential diagnosis, quantitative tools, resources, billing insurance, and neuroaffirming documentation and feedback.
Clinicians only — social workers, therapists, psychologists, PMHNPs, physicians, and licensed mental health or medical providers.
For training costs, please see the Investment section below :)
From Lived Experience to Professional Purpose
As a late-diagnosed autistic and ADHD human, I understand firsthand the transformative power of finally having language for your neurotype. It’s not about a label — it’s about freedom.
Freedom to stop self-blaming.
Freedom to stop performing.
Freedom to meet yourself with compassion instead of confrontation.
For decades, I fell completely under the radar. Branded as an anxious, “troubled teen,” it was assumed I was defiant by choice rather than overwhelmed by circumstances. Internally, I was drowning — trying to solve the relentless puzzle of twisting myself into a world that was never built for me. The shame of feeling “too much,” “too sensitive,” or “too intense,” was its own form of isolation.
Like thousands of other late-diagnosed humans, I carry a very real grief for the life I might have lived — the self-trust I could have built, the burnout I may have avoided, the relationships I might have understood differently — if someone had simply initiated the conversation about autism earlier.
High-masking autism remains widely misunderstood, even within the mental health community. The impact of misdiagnosis, invalidation, and well-intended but uninformed care is significant — and often avoidable.
This is why I created these trainings.
As a Vanderbilt-trained mental health nurse practitioner specializing in high-masking neurodivergent folx — particularly those who have been overlooked or dismissed repeatedly — this work is not just my profession. It is deeply personal. There is nothing I care more about than supporting this community in ways that are affirming, accurate, individualized, and life-changing.
My mission is simple:
To ensure fewer people fall through the cracks, and more people find understanding, language, identity, and community — sooner, not decades later.
Investment — Equitable Sliding Scale
Neuroaffirming education should be accessible — and the lived, professional, and emotional labor that goes into shaping this work deserves to be valued. In alignment with equitable sliding scale models, participants are invited to self-select the tier that aligns with their current financial reality, access to resources, and level of institutional support.
No documentation required. Your choice is respected.
This structure allows the work to remain sustainable, accessible, and community-centered, honoring both economic diversity and the value of autistic expertise.
The Basics — Exploring High-Masking Autism
January 2026 • 1–2 Hours • On-Demand
Tier Investment
Tier 1 — Accessible$60
Tier 2 — Standard$90
Tier 3 — Supporter$120
Foundations — Inside the Neurotype
February 2026 • 2–3 Hours • Live or On-Demand
Tier Investment
Tier 1 — Accessible$120
Tier 2 — Standard$160
Tier 3 — Supporter$200
Evaluation — Assessing High-Masking Autism in Adults
March 2026 • Clinicians Only • Live with Recording Access or On-Demand
Tier Investment
Tier 1 — Independent Clinician$600
Tier 2 — Standard Clinical Rate$900
Tier 3 — Institutional/Supporter$1200
What the Tiers Represent
Tier 1 — Accessible: For individuals with limited financial access, unstable income, or economic barriers.
Tier 2 — Standard: The most common rate — reflects fair compensation for the work while remaining accessible to many.
Tier 3 — Supporter: For those with organizational funding or the ability to contribute more to support community access.
Choosing a higher tier helps make lower-tier pricing possible for others.
Choosing a lower tier ensures you can access needed resources without financial harm.
Both choices support equity.
Group / Organizational / School Cohort Pricing
Group, school district, clinic, agency, or cohort-based pricing is available for single-session access or multi-staff training pathways.
If you're interested in hosting a closed training for your team or enrolling a group, please reach out for custom pricing and scheduling.