This program is Approved by the National Association of Social Workers for 29 continuing education contact hours. (Approval #886809327-3237)

Training for Professionals 

serving ASD clients and their families

This training is intended for professionals who are working with individuals, or suspect they might be working with individuals on the autism spectrum, and want to gain strategies and insights from years of experience quickly and easily.

Content is delivered in an online platform that allows you to consume it at your own pace and your own time.

Questions are answered by email, or individual discussions can be scheduled to provide support with the material.

Access to the platform lasts for one full year, and can be extended by request if necessary.

The training will take approximately 30 hours for the average professional to complete, including all assignments.

When the student passes the 300-question multiple-choice test with 80% or higher, they will be certified by the National Autism Academy, and all benefits of certification will be available.

Distinguish yourself from others in your profession and be seen as a leader while making a difference in the lives of your clients with autism – all with clinically proven methods!

Most people know that working with those with autism requires special skills and heightened training. When you display our emblem confirming that you have received training and certification in working with people who have autism, you will be seen as a leader who is forward thinking and a cut above the rest. That not only strengthens your skill set but improves the perception in the community and with your patients about the level of practice you provide. So why not be seen as the leader you are?

Get certified in this area and enjoy all the benefits, including:

Certification of advanced training by the National Autism Academy, an approved provider of continuing education credits for many state and local agencies

A listing on our preferred providers page to help families in your area find you – and trust you – even before they meet you!

Waiting room table tents with the Certification Emblem confirming for those who stop by of your advanced training and that you are both autism-aware and autism-friendly

A certificate of your advanced training

A certification emblem suitable for a website to announce your additional skills

Get Certified. Reduce Your Frustration. Grow Your Practice.

Certification heightens your reputation and says “I GET IT!”

After we interviewed thousands of families with kids on the autism spectrum, one thing became consistently clear: it’s nearly impossible to find a professional that has training in autism, especially for high functioning individuals.  Families want professionals with heightened skills and someone who “Gets it!” Certification says both.  Show that you are skilled in the unique challenges and opportunities for those with autism while declaring ‘you get it!’

Reduce Your Frustration and that of the families with whom you work

Autism therapy is different than other types of therapy. We provide the skills training that addresses long-term functional skills and self-regulation skills required to develop independence and success in life.  Make no mistake—this is not play therapy, floor time, or ABA, which have a place in treatment protocols but often miss the mark for families higher functioning children.

Therapists who attempt to treat the anxiety and ADHD symptomology without ever really addressing the core issue of autism as a social and functional disability end up at risk for missing the mark. That leads to frustration for therapist and family alike. Learn the specific strategies that will make therapy successful, provide consistent results for the entire family, and help the individual to be successful in life.

Grow Your Practice with the help of NAA

Let us help you increase your visibility and participation in serving families with autism. Your unique brand of therapy can be enhanced with our trainings.  This will allow you to provide much needed support to individuals with ASD and their families!

With our certification, you will receive the therapeutic tools and the marketing support to help families find you and trust you even before they meet you! Be seen as a leader in your space and gain the skills to place you even more of a cut above.

Enjoy the benefits that advanced training provides!

“Dr. Wahlberg and Ms. Beard have come together to create an informative, engaging, and relevant training for professionals who support individuals on the autism spectrum, as well as their families.

The information presented by NAA can be especially helpful to educators and related service providers; including school psychologists, social workers, speech-language pathologists, and occupational therapists. These professionals are often called upon to help manage the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral challenges of young people on the autism spectrum.

I am pleased with the NAA trainings not only as a professional but also as a sibling of a brother with autism and other developmental disabilities. The information presented was accurate as well as true to the real experiences of people who care for those on the autism spectrum.

Kerry Gremo, Ph.D., NCSP
Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Nationally Certified School Psychologist

Course Overview

Training for Professionals Serving Clients with ASD and Their Families

Class 1: The Perspective that Works: Introduction to Autism

This class provides introductory principles on autism for mental health practitioners working with ASD diagnosed children and adults.
You will gain specific perspectives that will serve as a guide for you in establishing a protocol that will support your client’s success, increase your confidence in working with and supporting an individual with autism in your practice, and help you to leverage therapeutic strategies to support the individual’s growth. 

Class 2: Understanding and Managing Autistic Behavior

This class provides the basics of how autistic brain neurology is linked to the behavior and the thinking of the child on the autism spectrum. Neurological regulation supports the child with autism’s ability to stay calm and regulated emotionally. This is the 2nd class in the series of 9, and will lay the groundwork for you in understanding and managing behavior through neurological regulation, as well as to help you to create more effective interventions to change behavior and ultimately create more success for your client. 

Class 3: The ASD Clients View of the World: Strategies for Effective Connection

The purpose of this class is to provide an understanding of common thinking patterns that arise as a result of the neurological architecture of the brain of children with autism, and through which their understanding of the world is filtered. We will discuss how these ways of thinking shape behavior. This will serve as a guide for you in understanding and managing behavior in your office, and help you create effective interventions. This is designed as Class 3 in the 9-part series. 

Class 4: Managing the Problems of a Social Disability

This class is designed to help you understand the pervasive types of social difficulties prevalent in individuals with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as how those social challenges develop, and how they influence behavior. This class will also teach strategies to help the individual overcome those challenges. 

Class 5: Motivating Children with Autism

This class will provide a clear understanding of why individuals with autism are not motivated like those without autism, as well as offering strategies to motivate the individual with autism to comply with requests, complete tasks, and follow the rules. This will support the therapists efforts to stimulate interest and participation, gain cooperation, and increase compliance in general. 

Class 6: Understanding and Conquering the Executive Functioning Deficits

The purpose of this class is to help you recognize the pervasive nature of the executive functioning deficit of individuals with autism, the many ways it influences behavior and success, and also serve as a guide for you in establishing treatment strategies that will increase your ASD clients’ success in therapy and in their life. This will support you by boosting your confidence and success in working with a child with autism in your practice. 

Class 7: Why Communicating Effectively is so Difficult and How to Make it Easier

This class will provide strategies for effective communication, tips about how to teach abstract concepts, and an explanation of why meaning gets lost in the minds of individuals with ASD.  Implementing these approaches will increase the likelihood that the client’s overall comprehension will be better, thus improving their ability to respond appropriately, which will help the individual become more functional in all environments. 

Class 8: A Successful Therapeutic Model For Autism Treatment

The purpose of this class is to define the therapeutic model that is successful in treating autism, and discuss how autism treatment may differ from conventional treatment models. 

Class 9: Diagnosing Autism

The purpose of this class is to support the clinical practitioner, or those in a position to diagnose autism in an individual, in recognizing the subtle signs that an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis would be more appropriate than other diagnoses. Higher functioning individuals are often mis-diagnosed, especially younger children in whom it is difficult to tease out the social difficulties, or receive several other diagnoses when a diagnosis of ASD would serve their treatment needs more effectively.

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