Date of Award

Summer 8-22-2026

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Laura Meyer

Second Advisor

Brian Beaumund

Third Advisor

Lila Kimel

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Keywords

Autism spectrum disorders, Autism assessment report, Psychodiagnosis, Caregivers, Psychological report, School age (6-12 years), Clinical practice, Neurodiversity

Abstract

The psychological assessment report is a primary product for a client at the end of a psychological evaluation. The report relays important information about the testing that was performed, client history, testing results, clinical formulation, diagnostic summary, and recommendations for the child, family, and school team. Despite the importance of this document for caregivers, particularly in communicating results to others and revisiting findings after the assessment, the tradition of writing long, complex, and difficult-to-understand reports has persisted. Previous research has demonstrated a consistent need to decrease length, minimize the use of jargon, prioritize summary and recommendations, provide interpretive statements relating test performance to the child, and to better individualize recommendations. No research exploring the unique needs of caregivers of school-age autistic youth receiving an autism assessment report has been conducted. However, the ability to write an effective, client-centered, and neurodiversity-affirming report extends far beyond good clinical communication. It is fundamentally an issue of ethics, equity, and disability justice. Autism evaluation reports often become the primary lens through which autistic individuals are understood by families, schools, employers, healthcare providers, and service systems. The language clinicians choose can shape access to supports, influence self-identity, reinforce or challenge stigma, and affect how autistic people are treated across their lifespan. This paper synthesizes current research on general report-writing needs with information about how to best serve caregivers of school-age autistic youth. Recommendations for understandable, actionable, and affirming practice are provided through a framework of plain-language guidelines.

Copyright Date

7-3-2026

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Madeline Ober

Provenance

Received from author

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

58 pgs

File Size

488 KB

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Available for download on Monday, July 16, 2029



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