Supportive, Neurodiversity-Affirming Autism Assessments
with Julie Bjelland, LMFT
Author of the forthcoming clinical book, Autistic Women: A Clinician’s Guide to
Neurodiversity-Affirming Identification and Support (W. W. Norton)
My assessment process is designed for adults, especially women and gender-diverse people, who have spent a lifetime masking, over-functioning, and being misunderstood. This is a deep, affirming process that centers your lived experience, nervous system, and developmental history, an approach designed to help you be accurately seen and understood.
Why an Autism Assessment Can Be Meaningful
For many adults, especially women and high-masking individuals, seeking an autism assessment is about understanding yourself and your needs more fully, which often leads to greater self-compassion.
A thoughtful, neurodiversity-affirming autism assessment can help explain lifelong patterns that may have felt confusing, overwhelming, or painful. Many people seek assessment after years of feeling misunderstood, burnt out, or like they have been working too hard to fit into a world that never quite fit them.
Learning that you are autistic often brings a deep sense of relief and validation. Many people describe these as the most consistent emotional responses after diagnosis, not because life suddenly becomes easy, but because their lived experience is finally seen and named. Years of self-doubt, confusion, and self-blame often soften when there is a clear understanding of how their nervous system works. Instead of asking “What’s wrong with me?” many people begin asking “What do I need?”
An assessment can also help guide more appropriate and supportive care. Traditional therapy approaches do not always align with autistic ways of processing, sensing, and relating. Understanding your neurotype allows therapy, self-care, work accommodations, and life choices to be shaped in ways that truly support your well-being rather than working against it.
For many people, assessment also supports identity and belonging. While self-identification is valid and respected within the autistic community, some individuals want a deeper sense of certainty before fully embracing that identity or entering autistic spaces. A formal assessment can provide that grounding. It can help you feel secure in knowing that you belong, that your experiences are real and valid, and that your way of being is shared by others.
Ultimately, an autism assessment is not about proving anything. It is about self-understanding, self-permission, and moving through the world with greater ease, clarity, and kindness toward yourself. ❤️
You deserve understanding that feels affirming, respectful, and deeply attuned to who you are.
Adult Autism Assessment Details
This assessment includes several parts, designed to support thoughtful reflection and a meaningful, collaborative conversation.
Client Information Form (completed at scheduling)
At the time you schedule your session, you will complete a Client Information Form with essential background information and acknowledgment of assessment expectations and policies.
Written Assessment Questionnaire (completed after scheduling)
After scheduling, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to the written assessment questionnaire. This in-depth questionnaire must be completed at least 48 hours before your scheduled video session to allow adequate time for review.
This written portion gives you space to share your lived experience, history, patterns, strengths, and challenges in your own words and at your own pace. Please take your time and respond as thoroughly as you can. The details you share help me prepare thoughtfully for our time together. I review this carefully in advance so our time together can be used as effectively and thoughtfully as possible.
Live Video Assessment and Results Session
The final part is a 90-minute video session that includes a guided clinical interview and collaborative conversation. During this time, we expand on what you shared in writing and explore anything that feels complex, unclear, or nuanced.
We then take a 15-minute break.
After the break, we meet for a results and discussion session where I share my impressions and walk through the criteria that informed them, with time for your questions. If you find you need additional time to process or ask follow-up questions, you are welcome to book a separate consultation.
📍 California Address Required
A California address is required on the Client Information Form due to licensing. You do not need to live in California. A temporary address, such as a hotel, is acceptable.
This is a compassionate, lived experience assessment designed especially for sensitive, internal processors and high-masking adults, particularly women.
👉 Includes advance review of written materials, an in-depth discussion of your lived experience, and, when appropriate, a one-page diagnostic letter.
🔽 What to Expect
Many people feel more at ease when they know what to expect ahead of time.
🔽 Why My Approach Is Different
Traditional autism assessment tools such as ADOS-2, ADI-R, AQ, RAADS-R, and SRS-2 were not designed to capture internal experiences or high levels of masking, and often under-identify autism in high-masking adults, particularly women. My approach focuses on your inner world, not just observable behavior. If you’d like to learn more about why I don’t use these assessment tools, click here.
🔽 Privacy & Confidentiality
All autism assessments are private and confidential. No information is shared with insurance or agencies.
🔽 Assessment Cost
This assessment is designed to identify autism in high-masking adults, particularly women who are often missed by traditional standardized testing models. It uses a collaborative, conversational approach that centers lived experience and allows space for reflection to identify nuance during the process.
What’s Included
• Comprehensive written intake and autism questionnaire completed at your own pace
• Careful clinical review of all written materials by me prior to the session
• A 90-minute live video assessment that includes a guided clinical interview, a 15-minute break, and time to review the results together and answer your questions
• A one-page diagnostic letter if a formal diagnosis is identified and you would like documentation
This approach is grounded in extensive clinical experience recognizing autism in sensitive, high-masking adults and often captures nuance that standardized testing can miss.
Assessment cost: $1200
Most private adult autism assessments in California range from $5,000–$10,000. This assessment is offered at a lower cost by focusing on in-depth clinical dialogue and written reflection rather than time-intensive standardized testing and lengthy reports.
💛A Supportive, Guided Process
My goal is to help you feel seen, validated, and supported and help you to understand your true neurotype.
🔽 Optional: Adult Autism Consultation
Not ready for a formal assessment? Consultations (50 or 75 minutes) offer a gentle way to explore your traits and self-understanding before deciding on a diagnosis.
🌍 Consultations are available worldwide: Schedule Here
Meet Your Assessor
Julie Bjelland, LMFT
I am a licensed psychotherapist and a leading specialist in adult-diagnosed autistic women and the Sensitive Autistic Neurotype. I am currently writing a professional clinical book titled Autistic Women: A Clinician’s Guide to Neurodiversity-Affirming Identification and Support, under contract with W. W. Norton.
I offer neurodiversity-affirming, culturally affirming consultations and formal autism assessments for high-masking, late-identified autistic adults, especially autistic women and those assigned female at birth who are often missed by traditional diagnostic models.
I am known for a compassionate, warm approach that centers your internal sensory, emotional, and relational world. I am adult-diagnosed autistic and queer, and I am committed to providing an affirming, inclusive space for LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse clients, with culturally responsive care for Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color within sensitive and neurodivergent communities.
Why Many Adults Choose Assessment
For many people, an autism diagnosis offers:
• Relief and validation
• Deeper self-understanding
• Permission to unmask
• Clearer insight into needs and strengths
“I finally feel kind toward myself.”
“It explained everything and gave me hope again.”
Many people describe feeling validated and relieved when their experiences finally have language.
This Is More Than a Diagnosis
For many adults, assessment becomes a turning point. Having language for lifelong experiences can soften self-judgment and support greater self-compassion. You are not alone in this process, and you deserve understanding that honors your lived experience.
Ready to Begin?
Have Questions?
Read my Frequently Asked Questions below 👇
Frequently Asked Questions
-
Autism Assessments for Adults
My assessment process is designed to be validating, supportive, and deeply personalized. Rather than relying on outdated checklists or narrow criteria, I take time to understand your internal world, your lived experiences, how you process life, and what makes you uniquely you.
The assessment includes an extensive written assessment completed at least 48 hours before your appointment, followed by a comprehensive 90-minute live video session with a built-in break for rest and regulation. This format allows time for thoughtful reflection before we meet and creates space to explore gently and thoroughly during the live session, which is especially important for adults, particularly women, whose traits have often been misunderstood or overlooked.
As a late-identified autistic woman myself, I know how powerful and emotional this discovery can be. My approach centers both clinical expertise and lived experience, offering education, emotional support, and space to process what arises.
What we explore may include sensory experiences, cognitive style, social experiences across childhood and adulthood, and your own questions, reflections, and lived experience throughout the process.
My goal is to help you feel seen, supported, and empowered as you move forward with greater clarity and self-understanding.
-
No. To keep the assessment process more accessible and affordable, I do not provide a multi-page formal written report. If you are identified as autistic, I do provide a one-page diagnostic letter that includes your name, date of birth, diagnosis, date of diagnosis, and my licensed credentials. Many people have found this letter provides the documentation they need when seeking accommodations or other support, though requirements can vary.
Comprehensive private autism assessments that include formal testing and lengthy written reports can cost several thousand dollars in California, and that extended report-writing process is one of the reasons those assessments are often much more expensive. My process is designed to offer a more accessible and affirming option while still providing meaningful clinical depth.
Because documentation requirements vary by school, employer, agency, healthcare system, government institution, or country, it is your responsibility to confirm what is required in your specific situation. Some institutions may require a comprehensive diagnostic report or documentation from a specific type of provider, such as a medical doctor or psychiatrist.
-
No. You do not need to live in California. Because Julie is licensed in California, a California address is required on the intake form for where you will be staying during the time of your video assessment. This may be a temporary address, such as a hotel or Airbnb. Residency is not required, and no proof of location is requested.
-
An autism diagnosis provided by Julie Bjelland, LMFT is a formal clinical diagnosis. Following the assessment, if identified, clients receive a one-page diagnostic letter that includes their name, date of birth, diagnosis, date of diagnosis, and Julie’s licensed credentials.
Many individuals have found this documentation helpful for accommodations and other purposes. Acceptance can vary depending on the organization, provider, agency, employer, school, healthcare system, or country where you plan to use it. Because requirements differ, it is best to confirm directly with the specific organization in your area.
Your diagnosis and diagnostic letter are provided directly to you. They are not shared with insurance companies, government agencies, or other third parties, and any decision to share them is entirely yours.
-
No. My assessments are exclusively focused on autism. I have an understanding of the differences and overlap between autism and ADHD, but this assessment is designed specifically to evaluate autism and does not include an ADHD diagnosis.
-
No. I specialize in autism assessments for adults, particularly women and sensitive, high-masking adults.
-
Yes. A limited number of equity access assessment spots are available each month at $300 off the standard fee to help increase access for individuals experiencing financial barriers.
These spots are prioritized for people from communities that have historically faced barriers to autism diagnosis and care, including Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.
If the full fee creates a financial barrier, you are welcome to request an equity access spot.
-
For many adults, yes. An autism diagnosis can bring clarity, validation, and a deeper understanding of lifelong patterns that may have felt confusing, painful, or hard to explain. It can support greater self-compassion, help guide more appropriate care, and make it easier to understand your needs, strengths, and boundaries.
For some people, a diagnosis also helps with accommodations, identity, and a sense of belonging. Choosing whether to pursue a diagnosis is personal, but for many adults it becomes a meaningful turning point in how they understand themselves.
-
Yes. If you have questions or would like support before deciding on a formal assessment, you are welcome to book a consultation with me. Consultations are available worldwide.