Ethics of Treating Neurodivergent Children and Families - 2024 Ethics and Integrity Series

Ethics of Treating Neurodivergent Children and Families

Presenter Katie Jo Glaves, LMFT, CMHS, is a family therapist at Protean Wellness, working with ages 3-18 and their parents. They specialize in work with behavioral problems, autism/developmental disabilities and anxiety, in addition to those facing fertility and parenting challenges. She has provided numerous trainings and publications emphasizing client autonomy among those with ASD and gender-diverse communities.

Session Description Due to the rapid increase in appropriate diagnosis of neurodivergence in previously under-diagnosed children, clinicians are seeing more openly neurodivergent children and their families. Neurodivergent children have complex needs and ethics dilemmas frequently emerge. Questions such as “Can this intellectually disabled 15 year old client meaningfully consent therapy?” “What happens when parents have goals for a child that the child does not share?” “If more than one family member has unique needs due to neurodivergence, how do I ethically navigate that intersection?” “What do I do if a parent wishes to pursue a therapy that lacks an evidence base or even may be harmful to the child?”. These ethical questions defy simplistic answers. This presentation will orientate you think through the ethical values (autonomy, dignity, nonmaleficence, humility) that can guide ethical decision making with this complex population.

Learning Objectives

As a result of this session participants will:

• Identify 4 ethical principles relevant to working with neurodivergent children, teens and families and be able to name one way to apply each principle to this population. 
• Participants will also be able to state 3 ways in which ND children, teens and families are vulnerable to unethical conduct and ways to compensate and correct as therapists to reduce vulnerability