Tara Sjuts, PhD, LP & Mallory Swantek, LIMHP, LADC, LPC, ADHD-CCSP, ASDCS Present: When Trauma Looks Like Autism (and Vice Versa): Ethical Assessment and Differential Diagnosis in Complex Clients
(Live Presentation via Zoom July 24th at noon central time)
Join Tara and Mallory for our July LIVE Free CE!
Clients with histories of complex trauma, neurodevelopmental differences, and chronic anxiety often show up with symptoms that don’t fit neatly into one diagnostic box. Emotional dysregulation, sensory sensitivities, executive functioning challenges, dissociation, social communication differences, and hypervigilance can look like Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Complex PTSD, anxiety disorders—or some combination of all of the above.
This presentation focuses on the real-world clinical and ethical challenges of sorting through these overlaps, particularly with foster care, adoption, adolescent, and other high-risk populations where history, development, and environment matter just as much as symptom lists.
Using a trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming lens, participants will explore how well-intended assessment practices can sometimes lead to diagnostic overshadowing, over-pathologizing, or premature conclusions that do more harm than good. The session will move beyond checklists to look at developmental trauma’s impact on the nervous system and executive functioning, and how diagnoses can be used thoughtfully—as tools for understanding, access, and support rather than labels that limit or define a person. Case examples will reflect common dilemmas clinicians face, including when diagnostic clarity is helpful and when ethical restraint is actually the more responsible choice.
This session is designed to be practical, grounded, and immediately applicable to clinical work. Participants can expect an honest discussion of diagnostic uncertainty, guidance on communicating diagnoses with care and clarity, and strategies for advocating within systems that often push for certainty even when complexity is unavoidable. The goal is not to have all the answers, but to leave with a clearer framework for making ethical, compassionate decisions in the gray areas clinicians encounter every day.
This event is to be presented LIVE via Zoom on July 24th, 2026, from 12-1pm (Central Time). You must attend at this time to receive the CE credit, and you must attend the entirety of the session to obtain your CE certificate. This CE will NOT be recorded for playback later.
Please sign into Zoom with the name that you registered with to obtain your CE certificate. Information, including the Zoom link, will be sent via your registration email. One CE credit hour will be available for this presentation. CE certificates will be sent out at the conclusion of the presentation after participants pass a quiz (8/10).
Interested in presenting? Contact us at nca@necounseling.org or complete this form: https://forms.gle/dWXMYAdQJHZaV3Y68
Photo courtesy of A. Hixon Photography
