Neuro-Affirming Therapy for Autism in Women and Girls

A smiling woman with short hair and glasses sitting on a ledge, holding a rainbow-colored umbrella. She has a green backpack and some books beside her, with colorful paper on the ground. Buildings with balconies and windows are in the background.

Being diagnosed with Autism as a woman can be a bit of a difficult path to navigate alone.

You never seem to fit in. No matter how hard you try it feels as though those around you have some sort of secret code that they all use to communicate with and as much as you have tried you just can’t crack it. There are people in your life but you worry they only tolerate you that they will eventually get burned out and leave. 

You are a passionate person you love theater, anime, video games, fantasy books, and other things. Yet no one seems as interested in those things as you are. You can find communities on the internet but you still feel lonely. You might have been told for years that women aren’t autistic but now you are learning that yes, autism impacts women it tends to go under diagnosed. 

Autism in women and girls is finally being recognized and diagnosed though for many the diagnoses comes after years of being socially isolated. Getting help at any age can be very helpful. 

Therapy can help you understand your own communication style, navigate relationships, advocate for your needs, recognize when masking is draining you, and develop ways of connecting with others that do not require you to constantly perform or suppress your autistic traits.

I am a neuro-affirming therapist meaning you do not need to mask, or hide your true self during our sessions. How autism presents in women is different from how it presents in men. We used to think that Autism impacted four times as many men as women, but newer research is showing us women are impacted by autism at the same rate as men. Their journey to diagnoses tends to be quite different. For many women they are late-identified, or late-diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. Masking especially high-masking, is something that many neurodiverse women do and learning how to unmask in a safe and supportive environment is essential.

In our work we will focus on boundary setting, unmasking, recovering from burnout, working through feelings of guilt and shame and helping you find strategies that help you achieve what you want in your life.

Click here to schedule your free 15-minute consultation, or call 704-702-2400. During this meeting, we will review what the process of therapy will look like for you, what you can expect from me, and answer any questions you might have. For more information on therapy with me click here.

A three-panel comic illustrating therapy progress. The first panel shows a girl at a therapy session with a therapist, with tangled yarn in her thoughts. The second panel shows her happily knitting while the therapist holds colorful balls of yarn. The third panel depicts her walking on the street in Uptown Charlotte with a sign that reads "Therapy Works," smiling and talking to others.
“My ultimate goal in therapy is to have my clients reach the point where they feel therapy is no longer needed.”
— Dr. Megan Connell
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You do not have to mask in therapy with me. My goal is not to teach autistic women to look or act more neurotypical. Instead, we can work together to understand your autistic identity, recognize your sensory and communication needs, recover from masking and autistic burnout, advocate for accommodations, and build a life that works with your brain rather than against it.

What to expect at your first session

Our first meeting will be an intake interview. Our intake will start with a review of the informed consent and limits of confidentiality. During the intake interview I will ask a wide range of questions so that I can understand you, your history and your reasons for seeking therapy. This session will usually last between 45-60 minuets.

What to expect at Follow-Up Sessions

Your follow up sessions will all be around 45-55 minuets. We typically will start with a check in to see if there is anything urgent we need to discuss. We will then typically move into discussing your therapy homework, how it went and what you observed. We will then start talking through the challenges you are facing. My approach will be a combination of listening, education about the human mind and human behavior, and discussing alternative behaviors to help you reach your therapy goals.

How Often We meet

I like to meet once a week with my clients for about four to eight weeks (depending on the nature of the challenge weekly sessions might go on for longer). Then, once it seems you are doing well, we will start meeting every two weeks, and if the gains are maintained, we then move into monthly check-ins. If you continue doing well we either move into maintenance therapy, where we meet every one to three months, or we terminate therapy. I hope to have most of my clients reaching termination of active therapy in 12 sessions.

Book an Appointment Today

Providing individual therapy to those with Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, Adjustment, and Women on the Autism Spectrum to those living in:

  • North Carolina; License number 5060

  • Maine; License number PS2672

  • South Carolina; License number PSY.1766 PSY

  • Washington; License number PY60181879

    Practicing under the PsyPact, mobility number 9418, in the Following States:

    • Alabama - AL SB 102 (Enacted 3/18/2021; Effective 6/1/2021)

    • Alaska- AK H.B. 110 (Enacted 6/22/2026, Effective 9/20/2026)

    • Arizona - AZ HB 2503 (Enacted on 5/17/2016; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Arkansas - AR HB 1760 (Enacted 4/25/2021; Effective (11/18/2021)

    • Colorado - CO HB 1017 (Enacted 4/12/2018; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Connecticut -CT S 2(Enacted 5/24/2022; Effective 10/1/2022)

    • Delaware - DE HB 172 (Enacted 6/27/2019; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • District of Columbia - DC B 145 (Enacted and Effective 4/2/2021)

    • Florida -FL H 33(Enacted 5/25/2023; Effective 7/1/2023)

    • Georgia - GA HB 26 (Enacted 4/23/2019; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Idaho - ID S 1305 (Enacted 3/23/2022; Effective 7/1/2022)

    • Illinois - IL HB 1853 (Enacted 8/22/2018, Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Indiana -IN S 365(Enacted 3/10/2022; Effective 7/1/2022)

    • Kansas - KS SB 170 (Enacted 5/17/2021; Effective 1/1/2022)

    • Kentucky - KY HB 38 (Enacted 3/18/2021; Effective 6/28/2021)

    • Maine - ME HB 631 (Enacted 6/22/2021; Effective 10/18/2021)

    • Maryland - MD HB 970 (Enacted and Effective 5/18/2021)

    • Michigan -MI H 5489(Enacted 12/22/2022; Effective 3/29/2023)

    • Minnesota - MN SB 193 (Enacted 5/25/2021; Effective 5/26/2021)

    • Mississippi -SB 2157(Enacted 4/8/2024; Effective 4/15/2024)

    • Missouri - MO HB 1719/MO SB 660 (Enacted 6/1/2018; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Montana - MTH.B. 241 (Enacted 4/16/2025 ; Effective 10/1/2025)

    • Nebraska - NE L 1034 (Enacted 4/23/2018; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Nevada - NV AB 429 (Enacted on 5/26/2017; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • New Hampshire- NH SB 232 (Enacted 7/10/2019; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • New Jersey -NJ A 4205(Enacted 9/24/2021; Effective 11/23/2021)

    • North Carolina - NC 361 (Enacted 7/1/2020; Effective 3/1/2021)

    • North Dakota -ND S 2205(Enacted 4/13/2023; Effective 8/1/2023)

    • Northern Marianas - CNMI HB 22-80 (Enacted and Effective 10/24/2022)

    • Ohio -OH S 2 (Enacted 4/27/2021; Effective 7/26/2021)

    • Oklahoma - OK HB 1057 (Enacted 4/29/2019; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Pennsylvania- PA SB 67(Enacted 5/8/2020; Effective 7/8/2020)

    • Rhode Island -RI H 7501(Enacted 6/21/2022; Effective7/1/2023)

    • South Carolina -SC H 3204(Enacted 5/16/2023; Effective7/17/2023)

    • South Dakota -SD H 1017(Enacted 2/13/24: Effective 7/1/2024)

    • Tennessee -TN S 161 (Enacted and Effective 5/11/2021)

    • Texas - TX HB 1501 (Enacted 6/10/2019; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Utah - UT SB 106 (Enacted on 3/17/2017; Effective 7/1/2020)

    • Vermont -VT H 282(Enacted 6/1/2023; Effective 7/1/2024)

    • Virginia- VA SB 760(Enacted 4/11/2020; Effective 1/1/2021)

    • Washington -WA H 1286(Enacted 3/4/2022; Effective 6/9/2022)

    • West Virginia - WV SB 668 (Enacted 4/21/2021; Effective 11/18/2021)

    • Wisconsin -WI A 537 (Enacted 2/4/2022; Effective 2/6/2022)

    • Wyoming - WY S 26 (Enacted 2/15/2023; Effective 2/15/2023)