Autism Essentials: Identify, Evaluate, Support
Audience
Medical clinicians caring for autistic youth: for example, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants working in primary care, neurology, and psychiatry.
Description
This Autism Essentials course trains clinicians to provide comprehensive, neuro-affirming ongoing care to autistic youth — and to become confident, empowering partners for the families who depend on them.
Autistic children are four times more likely to have unmet healthcare needs than children without disabilities. Yet many clinicians report limited training and low confidence in delivering strengths-based, neuro-affirming care. This course is designed to close that gap.
Please note: This is a clinical care training, not a diagnostic training. While attendees will become more adept at recognizing characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and learn about diagnostic assessment, additional training is needed to perform diagnostic assessments.
Developed in partnership with the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics (SDBP), the training equips you with practical tools, clinical frameworks, and national standards of care to better support autistic patients and their families — from early identification and medical evaluation through ongoing, individualized care. You’ll leave with:
- Standardized screening tools and clinical approaches for identifying when autism evaluation is indicated across developmental levels
- Individualized management frameworks for autism and co-occurring conditions that integrate therapeutic, pharmacological, and behavioral strategies
- Practical tools for addressing daily living challenges such as sleep, eating, and toileting
- Approaches for interpreting diagnostic reports and helping families advocate for supports
- Autism-friendly workflow and billing strategies you can put into practice right away.
After the training, you’ll be more confident caring for autistic youth — and better equipped to partner with their families.
Autism Essentials has two components:
- A dynamic full-day interactive workshop focused on building skills and confidence in providing neuro-affirming ongoing care to autistic youth.
- Four case-based group learning calls over two months in which participants present cases from their practice to solidify their learning and put it into practice. Each call lasts one hour.
Check back soon for continuing education information.
Course Goals
In this course, you’ll learn to:
- Identify core and varied presentations of autism across developmental levels, using standardized screening tools and recognizing co-occurring conditions such as ADHD and anxiety.
- Perform appropriate medical workups — including genetic testing and neuroimaging — based on individual patient needs.
- Design individualized management plans integrating therapeutic modalities (speech, occupational, and behavioral therapies), pharmacological interventions for co-occurring conditions, and practical strategies for daily living challenges.
- Implement autism-friendly clinical workflows and sustainable billing practices.
- Empower families by interpreting diagnostic reports and building strategies for school-based advocacy and services.
Course Dates
November 7, 2026 (virtual ET schedule)
Join the program notification list to be notified as new dates are added. REACH also offers private courses to groups of 10 or more. To schedule a private course, complete the contact form on our Group Training page.
If you cancel your registration, the refund policy is as follows:
- 20 days or more prior to the course: 90% refund, minus credit card processing fees.
- 10 to 19 days: 70% refund, minus credit card processing fees.
- 3 to 9 days: 60% refund, minus credit card processing fees.
- 0 to 2 days: No refund.
Credit card processing fees: $77.00 for American Express or $48.70 for other credit cards.
As an alternative to canceling, you may transfer your registration to another scheduled session of the same training program. Transfers must be requested within 12 months of your original registration date. After this period, the registration will no longer be eligible for transfer and the standard cancellation policy will apply.
Please note that course materials are updated frequently. If you choose to transfer, we strongly advise purchasing new materials to ensure you have the most current content.