1 CEU: Creating Neuro-Affirming Policies

Neuro-affirming practice has become a clear expectation in our field — but most companies are implementing it person by person, not policy by policy. This 1 CEU training gives clinical directors and company owners a concrete, research-backed framework for building neuro-affirming policies that apply to every client, every family, and every staff member.

Led by Morgan van Diepen, M.Ed., BCBA, and Michelle Vinokurov, B.S., BCaBA — an autistic BCaBA with over a decade of clinical experience — this course draws from 12 peer-reviewed ABA journal articles and combines evidence-based recommendations with lived autistic experience. Includes a 57-page policy manual with ready-to-use templates, checklists, and an implementation timeline.

What You'll Learn

• Six pillars of neuro-affirming practice: language and identity, assent, goal selection, ableism awareness, trauma-informed care, and centering autistic voices
• A core policy test to evaluate every goal and procedure for alignment with neuro-affirming values
• How to document individualized assent definitions and recognize assent withdrawal across all communication profiles
• How to shift from a medical model to a social model mindset — in documentation, goal-setting, and daily practice
• An implementation timeline: what to change immediately, within 3 months, and within 6-12 months

Who Is This For

Designed for BCBAs in clinical director, company owner, or regional director roles who are ready to move from individual neuro-affirming practice to company-wide policy.

Share this course with every BCBA and clinical leader on your team — no additional cost. Everything is included in your BIP Visualized subscription.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define neurodiversity and neurodiversity-affirming practice and describe their implications for clinical decision-making, organizational policies, and service delivery.
• Evaluate organizational policies, procedures, and clinical practices using established neurodiversity-affirming frameworks, including quality of life, assent, self-determination, and stakeholder input.
• Identify systems-level strategies for developing, implementing, and monitoring neurodiversity-affirming policies across recruitment, onboarding, supervision, service delivery, and organizational accountability processes.

About the Instructors

Morgan van Diepen, M.Ed., BCBA is the founder of ABA Visualized, where she has been actively integrating neurodiversity-affirming practices into visual language and clinical content since 2019. This work has included ongoing engagement with peer-reviewed research, continuing education, and direct collaboration with neurodivergent individuals and autistic self-advocates over more than five years.

This course was co-created and co-presented with Michelle Vinokurov, B.S., BCaBA. Michelle is a District Behavior Specialist with experience across clinic, home, and school settings. As an autistic individual who received early intervention, she brings both professional expertise and meaningful lived experience to her work with learners, families, and clinical teams. Morgan and Michelle have collaborated for over eight years.

ACE Provider Information

ABA Visualized | ACE Provider #IP-22-0233 | 1 CEU | Online Asynchronous | Published: April 21, 2026

Disclosures

This course may reference content from ABA Visualized published books and/or the BIP Visualized platform, both of which are owned by the instructor.

Complaints and Concerns

Questions or concerns about this course can be submitted in writing to support@bipvisualized.com. If a complaint cannot be resolved directly, participants may file a Notice of Alleged Violation with the BACB at bacb.com/ethics.

Access this course as part of your BIP Visualized subscription.