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Exercises to explore autistic needs in therapy

Inah

What are good exercises that explore autistic needs and preferences in a therapeutic context? I am looking for specific examples.

For context, my therapist offered for me to bring anything/ any exercise I’d like to try. The therapy started in the context of loss and grief and had nothing to do with autism, but turns out my therapist has lived experiences with autism and a year in I would now like to focus more on exploring my own autistic needs and how I can manage demands better to save energy (I had a very rough year due to health and stress and feel near a burnout). I also still often feel like an imposter in the autistic community and would like to explore more what autism means for me.

I am thinking of possibly spiky profiles, spoons or something like that but wonder if there are any concrete exercises to do together with a therapist?

No need to suggest changing the therapy, I have explored that but for many reasons have decided to stay with my current therapist.

Thanks

Parents

  • Let's start with the Spiky Profile Mapping. It's the gentlest entry point: visual, no pressure, and it hits your imposter feelings right away.

    Why this one?

    • You get to see your strengths first (those spikes - like deep focus or creativity) before the tough bits. That flips "I'm faking it" into "Oh, that's why some things come easy."

    • It's quick - 30 minutes tops. Draw bars on paper, rate 1-10 on stuff like social energy, sensory stuff, planning... boom, pattern shows up.

    • Your therapist can join in - maybe even sketch their own. Feels like teamwork, not "fixing you."

    Bring graph paper or just say: "Let's map my spiky profile today - I want to see how autism shows up for me, not just grief."

    Once that's done, next week? Energy Accounting - builds on it, shows where spoons leak.

    Sound good?

Reply

  • Let's start with the Spiky Profile Mapping. It's the gentlest entry point: visual, no pressure, and it hits your imposter feelings right away.

    Why this one?

    • You get to see your strengths first (those spikes - like deep focus or creativity) before the tough bits. That flips "I'm faking it" into "Oh, that's why some things come easy."

    • It's quick - 30 minutes tops. Draw bars on paper, rate 1-10 on stuff like social energy, sensory stuff, planning... boom, pattern shows up.

    • Your therapist can join in - maybe even sketch their own. Feels like teamwork, not "fixing you."

    Bring graph paper or just say: "Let's map my spiky profile today - I want to see how autism shows up for me, not just grief."

    Once that's done, next week? Energy Accounting - builds on it, shows where spoons leak.

    Sound good?

Children
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