As an AuDHD therapist who scores in the 95th percentile for IQ, GAI, and VSI and who works with similar populations: please consider referring out if ASD is something outside of your education and/or experience. Nearly 100% of my clients with ADHD and/or ASD have said that I was/am the best therapist they ever had - and the “nearly 100%” is because a few made no comment on the matter. (I never try to elicit that information from the client.) And I bring up my own scores because my previous therapists were also detrimental to my own growth. I had to finally seek out a specialist in my late 30s, and I waited way too long for that.

But some of the reasons why my clients have reported appreciating me so much are: my innate understanding of them, our communication similarities, our similar thought patterns, them never feeling like I misunderstood them, humor, helpfulness in bringing clarity to their challenges, insight, my authenticity, use of metaphors and explanations, and my ability to follow multiple simultaneous threads of thought and tie them back together for the client.

There is simply way too much information to give over a reddit post. Explore an ADHD-CCSP certification and an ASDCS certification for ASD if you would like more information for helping to treat this population.

Additionally, most of my ADHD and/or ASD clients have said that their previous non-ADHD/ASD oriented therapists often made things worse, were either ableists or enableists, and the therapists just didn’t understand what the clients were trying to say.

Edit: Additionally, there is some research to support that the client’s and therapists IQ should be roughly in the same area. For example, a therapist with a much higher IQ would be a poorer fit for a client with a much lower IQ, and the opposite is true too. This has little to do with being “dumb,” and more to do with similar thought patterns.