At Spectrum Psychology Practice, we specialise in working with children, teenagers and adults with Autism from the age of 12 months onwards. We are experienced in providing assessments, psychological interventions and counselling to preschoolers, school-going children and teenagers as well as adults. We are aware of the unique challenges that each child, teenager and adult encounters in the different phases of their lives and aim to equip them with the necessary skills to handle these challenges.
In our society, where the allistic (non-autistic) community is in the majority, the medical framework traditionally has a strong influence on how Autism is viewed. The neurodiversity framework is steadily gaining recognition as a viable alternative model, based on the growing recognition of the importance of giving voice to the minority autistic community. We utilise neuro-affirming practices and adopt a dialectic approach in our work with autistic individuals, acknowledging that both the medical and neurodiversity frameworks have strengths that can benefit the autistic individual and community. We seek to find a middle ground for both the autistic and allistic individual, where the views, perspectives and behaviours of the individuals of both very different communities can be mutually respected and accommodated.
The middle ground is built on the values of mutual respect and accommodation, acknowledging that both autistic and allistic individuals have a role to play in creating a safe and inclusive environment, as well as reducing the “double empathy” problem that affects all autistic-allistic relationships. We believe that both autistic and allistic individuals have equal standing in dyadic and group relationships, and that any difficulties in social communication and interaction are not the sole responsibility of the autistic individual, but rather that of all parties involved, autistic and allistic. Therefore, not only do we provide therapeutic support and skills training for autistic individuals, we also do similar work with allistic individuals, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to interact successfully with their autistic counterparts.
