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Start with understanding. Everything else follows.

Neuro-Affirming Autism Assessment
and Training for Professionals

We help SLPs, OTs and teachers understand autistic students so behavior makes sense and support works.

A free sample of our Strengths, Stressors, and Supports Profile. Try it with one student or client.

 

 

Are you a parent? Start here

Choose your assessment

Neuro-Strengths-Based Assessment & Course

Use it when you want the whole picture of a student. It includes the Strengths, Stressors and Supports Profile plus soft skills, for new and experienced professionals.

Neuro-Affirming Social Communication Profile & Course

Use it when social communication is the question. You get the Profile and a course built for social communication differences, so you can start applying it right away.

Both are built on the NSBSA Framework.
Pick the one that matches what you need to know about your student or client.

You want to be neuro-affirming —
but the system makes it hard.

  • You’re required to use standardized assessments that don’t tell the whole story
     

  • You keep seeing the same goals written — and the same struggles continue
     

  • Behavior plans focus on compliance, not connection
     

  • You leave work wondering if what you’re doing is actually helping

Autism support doesn’t have to mean compliance.

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When you understand why a behavior is happening, you can support your student or client without a power struggle. We'll show you how.

What is neuro-affirming support?

Neuro-affirming support treats autism as a different way of experiencing the world and treats behavior as communication. You start by learning what helps an autistic person stay regulated and take part, then build support from their strengths and interests

What is the NSBSA Framework?

The Neuro-Strengths Based Support for Autism (NSBSA) Framework was developed by Susan Golubock, an autistic retired occupational therapist and Staci Neustadt, MS, CCC-Speech-Language Pathologist. It organizes what you know about a person into four quadrants. Every course, assessment and handout on this site uses it

Strengths

Potential Strengths

Barriers

Triggers

WAYS WE WORK WITH YOU

Professional Training

Practical, neuro-affirming training for school districts, private practices and parent groups.

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(Live, On-demand, On-site, PDDs)

Therapy

Neuro-affirming therapy for autistic people of all ages and support needs. It starts with how the autistic brain processes the world.

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Arizona, Colorado, Virtual - USA

Coaching

For autistic adults and parents of autistic children. Coaching helps families shift from managing behaviors to understanding what their person needs to feel regulated and connected.

Led by Experience. Guided by Autistic Insight.

Staci-copy_edited.jpg
Older white woman with white hair

Making Sense of Autism was founded by Susan Golubock, an autistic retired occupational therapist, and is led by CEO Staci Neustadt, MS, CCC-SLP, a speech-language pathologist. Together they believe understanding comes before change.

For years, Staci used the compliance approach, and it never felt right. She felt like she was bribing kids, then reacting when they got upset. Now she understands what autistic kids need and how they learn best, and she helps other professionals see it too.

"What impressed us most was not only the accuracy of your observations but also how clearly and with such balance you captured Alice's strengths, challenges, personality, and potential.  As a parent who navigates her world every day, I found it refreshing to read an evaluation that felt authentic and aligned with the child we know and love dearly."

–Garo & Sarah Parents of Autistic child

Questions we hear a lot

Which assessment should I start with?

Try the profile with one student

Understand the student first. The goals get easier from there.

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