Embracing Neurodiversity – December 2025






ImPACT Update Newsletter – Neurodiversity-Affirming Care




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ImPACT Update

Issue: December 2025

This Issue’s Focus: Embracing Neurodiversity: A New Lens for Autism Support


Autism Infinity Symbol graphic

The field of autism care is undergoing a significant shift, moving from traditional deficit-based models towards a **neurodiversity-affirming approach**. This paradigm recognizes autism as a natural variation of human neurology, emphasizing strengths and understanding challenges as arising from a mismatch between the individual and their environment.

In This Issue:

  • Research Spotlight:
    Explore a commentary on reconciling autism intervention and neurodiversity through an NDBI framework.
  • Practice Notes:
    Discover how Project ImPACT, as an NDBI, can be implemented in ways that are consistent with a neurodiversity-affirming approach to care.
  • Announcements:
    Stay informed about upcoming webinars, training opportunities, and new resources.

Research Spotlight

This is a commentary article that identifies and explores areas of overlap between neurodiversity values and contemporary autism intervention approaches, specifically NDBIs. The work was crafted through a collaboration of Autistic and non-Autistic co-authors.

Study Snapshot


What was done?

This commentary explored the intersection of the Neurodiversity Paradigm (ND) and Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs), a category that includes Project ImPACT. It was developed via collaboration between Autistic and non-Autistic researchers.


The Framework Explored:

NDBIs are characterized by:

  • Implementation in natural settings.
  • Shared control between child and teaching partner.
  • Utilization of natural consequences and motivation.
  • Use of behavioral strategies to teach developmentally appropriate skills.
  • Individualized treatment goals and focus on child-initiated teaching episodes.


Key Areas of Alignment & Improvement:

  • Co-construction & Agency: Prioritize child-led approaches and strong parent partnerships.
  • Strength-Based Approach: Utilize child interests and preferences to individualize goals.
  • Naturalistic Skill Building: Implementing interventions in everyday contexts with natural reinforcement.
  • Improving Validity: Centering Autistic voices and assessing social/ecological validity.

Key Takeaways

NDBIs as a Bridge:

NDBIs hold promise for bridging the gap between autism intervention and the neurodiversity movement due to their inherent flexibility and person-centered nature.

Collaborative Partnership is Essential:

Meaningful collaboration between Autistic and non-Autistic stakeholders is crucial for reforming behavioral intervention to be more respectful, effective, and aligned with Autistic individuals’ concerns and quality of life goals.

Key Practices for Neurodiversity-Affirming NDBIs:

Prioritize stakeholder agency (child-led, parent partnership), use a strength-based approach, focus on naturalistic skill building, and continually assess social and ecological validity from Autistic perspectives.

Practice Notes

Recognizing Neurodiversity-Affirming Practices in Project ImPACT

Project ImPACT, as an NDBI, is highly compatible with a neurodiversity-affirming approach to care due to its emphasis on child-led learning, shared control, and naturalistic strategies. The core components below are inherently consistent with neurodiversity-affirming principles.

  • 🗣️ Acknowledges All Forms of Communication

    Project ImPACT embraces spoken language, gestures, signs, and AAC—encouraging caregivers to model language and respond to each child’s unique communication style with attuned sensitivity.

  • 🧠 Focuses on Skills That Support Connection, Autonomy, and Well-Being

    Intervention goals center on naturally emerging skills that foster learning, engagement, and independence—without pressuring children to conform to neurotypical norms.

  • 🌬️ Supports Emotional Regulation and Coping

    Intervention supports self-regulation and coping strategies that build confidence and resilience, reinforcing a developmental—not compliance-based—approach to behavior and learning.

  • 🤝 Collaborates Closely with Families

    Intervention goals and strategies are co-created with caregivers to ensure they reflect the child’s needs, preferences, and the family’s cultural values and priorities.

  • 🌟 Uses an Individualized, Strengths-Based Approach

    Strategies are tailored to highlight the child’s strengths and preferences, rather than remediating perceived deficits.

  • 🍃 Uses Naturalistic Intervention Strategies

    Embedded in everyday routines and play, strategies promote authentic learning through meaningful interactions—minimizing artificial prompts and rewards and maximizing relevance to daily life.

Delivering Project ImPACT Through a Neurodiversity-Affirming Lens

Drawing from adaptations by Project SKILLS at UT Austin, here are key strategies to deepen the neurodiversity-affirming delivery of ImPACT:

  • 🌟 Center Autistic Lived Experience

    Integrate perspectives from autistic individuals to guide goals and strategies. Adopt strengths-based language, framing differences as variations, not deficits.

  • 🧩 Honor All Communication and Play Styles

    Validate diverse communication and engagement behaviors. Coach caregivers to respond to the child’s unique communication style with attuned sensitivity.

  • ✋ Revise Prompting to Support Body Autonomy

    Emphasize “hand under hand” or gestural prompts over “hand over hand” to promote agency and physical autonomy in skill development.

  • 🗣️ Include Self-Advocacy Skill Development

    Embed goals that nurture self-expression and boundary-setting, cultivating autonomy and affirming identity for each child.


Clinician Q&A: “How do I balance teaching new skills with respecting neurodiversity?”

**Answer:** Skill development and respecting neurodiversity go hand in hand. Rather than trying to “normalize” a child’s behavior, the goal should be to help them build skills that increase their ability to **communicate, connect, and participate** in ways that are meaningful to them and their families. Focus on **functional goals**. By including the parent in this process, you can identify the most meaningful outcomes for the child and family.

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Fidelity Check: Adaptability within the F.A.C.T.S. Framework

Many of the individual techniques in Project ImPACT can serve the same goal. As long as you are teaching at least one technique for each of the **F.A.C.T.S. strategies**, you are using Project ImPACT with fidelity.

So if the child becomes dysregulated in response to one of the techniques (e.g., gets upset with playful obstruction), help the parent use another strategy that can support the child’s initiations (e.g., communicative temptations).

Announcements

Upcoming: Project ImPACT Virtual Advanced Course

Our next available Advanced Course will be offered **December 8-12, 2025**. This course is open to providers who work with young children with social communication delays. Spaces are limited!

Register Now

New Resource: Affirming Language Guidelines

The ABCT Autism Special Interest Group developed the following suggestions for using affirming language to guide practice.

View Now


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