Neurodivergence Through a Cultural Lens: Practical Strategies for Supporting BIPOC Clients with ADHD and Autism

Workshop Description

BIPOC individuals with ADHD and Autism are frequently underdiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or misunderstood due to cultural bias, systemic barriers, and dominant neurotypical frameworks that fail to account for cultural context. Clinicians may unintentionally pathologize adaptive behaviors, overlook neurodivergent traits shaped by cultural norms, or rely on assessment and intervention models not designed with BIPOC clients in mind.

This interactive training will support clinicians in developing a culturally responsive, neurodiversity-affirming approach to working with BIPOC clients with ADHD and Autism across the lifespan. Participants will explore how race, culture, systemic oppression, and trauma intersect with neurodivergence, impacting presentation, masking, help-seeking behaviors, and therapeutic engagement.

Emphasis will be placed on practical, immediately applicable strategies, including culturally attuned assessment considerations, adapting interventions to reduce shame and mislabeling, supporting executive functioning within real-world constraints, and strengthening the therapeutic alliance through cultural humility. Case examples and reflective exercises will help clinicians translate concepts into…