Do you suspect you or an adult loved one is autistic?
Is the cost of assessment a barrier to you or to them?
Are you newly diagnosed or self-diagnosed?
I guide adults
in informed
self-assessment
for autism and mentor autistic adults as they
strive to be their best selves,
happy and fulfilled.
Hi, I'm Lara Schaeffer, a Certified Autism Specialist and the founder of Autism Discovery. I am also autistic, but that fact was not identified until I was in my forties.
Long waiting lists for autism assessment appointments as well as fees which are often inaccessible are preventing many adults from determining whether or not they are autistic.
At the same time, undiagnosed autism poses extreme personal and social challenges to those affected. So much of my life finally made sense when my autism was diagnosed, and in the three and a half years since then, I have become trained and certified so that I can be dedicated to helping others self-identify autism when it is present.
In guiding people through widely used and well-regarded evaluative processes and many of the same screening tools used in formal diagnosis, I help those who wonder about their own relationship with autism come to a personal understanding of whether or not they are autistic.
If autism is self-identified, individuals' underlying sources of challenges can be discovered, and they can begin to understand their differences and how those differences affect them. Knowing their full truth, they can begin to heal from years of pain and trauma from not understanding that their experiences of the world and interactions with others are colored by the fact that, as autistics, their minds simply work differently than the vast majority of people they interact with.
I work with previously diagnosed, newly diagnosed, and self-diagnosed autistics to help them live their best lives. I am here to listen and to guide, and I am eager to share my training and experience in the benefit of others. I invite you to read more about my work on my "About/ Read More" page.
For more information about autism in general, please see my blog page on this site.
“I know there is tremendous need for this work…barriers to assessment used to be great, and there used to be nowhere for an adult who is newly-diagnosed to turn for practical advice and the open ears of someone who truly understands.”
Lara Schaeffer, M.Ed. Harvard University
Certified Autism Specialist