People who have autism spectrum disorder can also have co-occurring mental disorders that cause functional difficulties and distress when left unaddressed. Healthcare providers are positioned to screen and refer clients who could benefit from targeted mental health care.
Live Webinar
Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 12:00 pm EDTCEUs/Hours Offered: AOTA/0.2 Intermediate, OT Service Delivery, Foundational Knowledge, 11877; CE Broker/2.0 CE Broker #20-1288617; IACET/0.2; IBCCES/2.0; NBCOT PDUs/2.5 Intermediate, Mental Health
Learning Outcomes
- After this course, participants will be able to differentiate diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorder from those of four commonly co-occurring mental illnesses.
- After this course, participants will be able to analyze ways that co-occurring mental disorders may affect clients’ participation in therapy, education, work, and home life.
- After this course, participants will be able to analyze ways to screen and refer clients to mental health services and educate clients and families on how to access crisis services as needed.
Agenda
0-5 Minutes | Introduction |
5-15 Minutes | Epidemiology & Etiologies of ASD |
15-25 Minutes | Incidence of Selected Mental Disorders in ASD vs. General Population |
25-90 Minutes | Case Studies: Anxiety, Depression, OCD, Catatonia, Psychosis, and Sleep Disorder |
90-100 Minutes | Screening Tools and Methods |
100-115 Minutes | Acquiring Options for MH Service Referral (Incl. crisis services) |
115-120 Minutes | Summary; Q&A |
Presented By

Debora Davidson
PhD, OTR/L
Dr. Davidson has practiced mental health and psychosocial occupational therapy since 1979, providing OT to individuals aged 5 to 65 years in acute care psychiatry, outpatient psychiatry, community mental health, therapeutic schools, and clients’ homes and communities. She has taught OT in Mental Health to hundreds of graduate OT students and consults with OT practitioners who are developing independent practices. She has published in OT textbooks and professional journals and presented at international, national, and state conferences on topics in mental health OT.
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Financial: Debora Davidson has received an honorarium for presenting this course. Non-financial: Debora Davidson has no relevant non-financial relationships to disclose.
Sponsor Disclosure: This Course is presented by OccupationalTherapy.com, a Continued site.
Content Disclosure: This learning event does not focus exclusively on any specific product or service.
Course participation information
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American Occupational Therapy Association
OccupationalTherapy.com is an AOTA Approved Provider of professional development, #7659. Course approval ID# 11877. This distance learning - interactive course is offered at 0.20 CEUs/contact hours (Intermediate level, OT Service Delivery, Foundational Knowledge Area). The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.
CE Broker
OccupationalTherapy.com is an approved provider for CE Broker, provider #50-14558. This course is offered for 2.00 hours. If you are an OT/OTA in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina or Tennessee, CE Broker may be of interest to you.
International Association for Continuing Education and Training
continued, LLC, DBA OccupationalTherapy.com, is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). continued complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As a result of this accreditation, continued is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. continued, LLC, is authorized by IACET to offer 0.20 CEUs for this program.
International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards
The continued family of websites, including OccupationalTherapy.com, is a Certified Training Partner of IBCCES. This course is offered for a maximum of 2.00 CE hours for the autism certifications issued by IBCCES.
National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy
OccupationalTherapy.com is a NBCOT® Professional Development Provider. This course is offered for 2.50 NBCOT PDUs (Intermediate level, Mental Health Area). NBCOT® is a registered trademark of The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.