Therapy for Autism in
Los Angeles for BIPOC & LGBTQ+ Communities
Have you spent your life figuring out how to fit in? Masking, camouflaging, exhausting yourself so you don't step on any toes? Our therapists Arthur Sun LCSW #129742, Christina Harrison LCSW #99941, Jeffery Park LMFT #108456 and Gonji Lee LCSW #88522 offer therapy for autistic teens and adults in Los Angeles and California from a neurodiversity-affirming lens. They specialize in working with Autistic folks who live in the intersection of BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and QTIBIPOC identities.
AFAB individuals are misdiagnosed
before receiving an autism diagnosis
individuals wait significantly longer
for diagnosis than white peers
and you do not have an illness.
It's the world that is not set up for you.
What Is Therapy for Autism?
Therapy for Autistic communities at Nokdu is not about fixing you to be like other allistic (non-Autistic) people. It's about understanding how your brain works, and relieving the chronic exhaustion that comes from persistent masking. You shouldn't have to constantly bend your brain to fit into this world. You deserve to build a life that also fits you.
Many autistic people, especially AFAB and BIPOC communities, go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years. Anxiety, depression, or trauma are often named first, while autism goes unseen. If you've always felt like you were working twice as hard to do what seems effortless to others, there isn't something wrong with you. You may just have a brain that processes the world differently.
Camouflaging is the practice of masking autistic traits to fit social norms. It's exhausting and often harmful over time. Research links chronic high masking to burnout, depression, anxiety, and identity loss. At Nokdu Therapy, our therapists are trained to recognize these patterns and to support You in both building strategies to navigate a world that often punishes Autistic traits, and to also live more authentically to who you are in safer spaces and relationships.
Our Los Angeles therapists work from a neurodiversity affirming therapy approach and a trauma-informed therapy lens. We take seriously the additional layers of complexity for QTIBIPOC and LGBTQ+ autistic clients, who often navigate racial trauma, queer identity, and late diagnosis simultaneously.
We don't pathologize autism. We work with your neurotype, not against it. We help to reduce suffering, nurture self-understanding, and build skills to live in a neurotypical world.
Explore who you are beneath years of camouflaging and social performance. Reconnect with your authentic self at your own pace.
DBT adapted for autistic individuals can be especially helpful for managing intense emotional experiences, sensory overwhelm, and interpersonal stress.
Signs You Might Be a High Masker
High masking and camouflaging are especially common among autistic women, AFAB individuals, BIPOC communities, and LGBTQ+ folks due to socially constructed norms & expectations.
Exhaustion After Social Situations
You can fit in socially but often crash afterward. It takes immense effort to prepare to socialize, or you need hours or days alone to recover.
"Gifted" or "Too Sensitive" as a Child
You were labeled as unempathetic, different, too much, or oddly mature, but you didn't understand why.
Scripting & Rehearsing Conversations
You mentally rehearse what to say, replay interactions afterward, and feel a constant pressure to say or do the "right" thing.
Change & Routines
You have routines that you stick to that help you know what to expect and not have to think so hard. Unexpected changes, big or small, can feel upsetting or trigger anxiety.
Sensory Overwhelm in Disguise
Lights, sounds, textures, or crowds affect you strongly, but you've learned to push through at significant personal cost.
Deep Interests Others Find "Too Much"
You have areas of passionate, detailed focus that bring you joy, but you've learned to downplay them to fit in.
Therapy for BIPOC & LGBTQ Autistic Communities
Autism looks different depending on who you are and how the world has treated you. Cultural expectations, racial trauma, and gender socialization all shape how autism is expressed and how long it takes to be recognized.
For BIPOC and LGBTQ+ autistic individuals, their experiences are often compounded by sociopolitical expectations around behavior, and a medical system that has historically harmed POC communities. Black autistic people, for example, are more likely to be victims of police violence. And less than 1% of Asian American autistic children receive any support due to stigma, cultural barriers, as well as the double whammy of the model minority myth and the savant stereotype. Many BIPOC autistic people learn early that their neurodivergence is safer when it's invisible, or feel that they are not deserving of support.
For POC and LGBTQ+ autistic people, there is often a profound overlap with navigating queer or trans identity, racial identity, and neurodivergent experiences at the same time. The masking required to survive heteronormative, white-centric spaces is deeply impactful, and leads to increased physical, emotional and psychological effects for QTIBIPOC autistic communities.
Our therapists specialize in holding these intersecting identities. We offer therapy in Los Angeles that holds your multitudes and will tailor therapy to your needs.
Free 20–30 Minute Consultation
Tell us what's been going on. There are no wrong answers. We'll listen and share how we can help without pressure or the need to commit.
Collaborative Assessment & Matching
We'll match you with a therapist whose background, training, and identity make sense for your situation. Autistic, late-diagnosed, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC clients deserve a therapist who genuinely understands.
Therapy at Your Pace
We don't use a one-size-fits-all protocol. Sessions are adapted to your communication style, sensory needs, and goals. That can include unmasking, addressing burnout, or navigating your relationships
Ongoing Support & Real Skills
We help you develop practical tools for sensory regulation, burnout recovery, relationships, and building a life that honors how your brain actually works.
Our Neurodivergence-Affirming Therapists in Los Angeles
Our therapists bring lived experience and clinical training to support people navigating the realities of autism, identity, and marginalization.
Arthur Sun (they/them), LCSW #129742
Arthur is a Taiwanese, trans therapist trained in DBT and EMDR. They can help you navigate neurodivergence, identity, and the complex interplay between autism and emotional regulation. They bring a genuine, affirming presence to poly, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ clients.
Learn more →
Christina Harrison (they/them; she/her), LCSW #99941
Christina is a biracial, queer therapist trained in DBT, ACT, and IFS. They work with with adults processing complex emotional experiences. They hold space for the full range of experiences that comes with being QTIBIPOC.
Learn more →
Gonji Lee (they/them), LCSW #88522
Gonji is a Korean, queer, neurodivergent therapist who works with neurodivergent, ENM and QTIBIPOC communities in Los Angeles. They work with teens and adults navigating autism, burnout, and the particular exhaustion of high masking across multiple identities.
Learn more →
Jeffery Park (Any Pronouns), LMFT #108456
Jeffery is a Korean, queer therapist who is trained in EMDR. They work with teens and adults, particularly creatives, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC communities. They bring a strengths-based, community-rooted perspective to trauma, self-esteem, and the complexity of identities that often go unseen in traditional care.
Learn more →Autism Therapy Across Greater Los Angeles
We serve autistic clients via telehealth anywhere in California and Los Angeles.
Common Questions About Autism Therapy in LA
Do I need a formal autism diagnosis to work with you?
No. Many of our clients come to us in the process of exploring whether they might be autistic, or after a lifetime of misdiagnoses. A formal diagnosis is not required to begin therapy. We work with you wherever you are in that process, whether you're newly diagnosed, self-identified, or still asking questions.
What is high masking, and why does it matter?
High masking, also called camouflaging, refers to the conscious or unconscious suppression of autistic traits in order to appear neurotypical. This often includes mimicking social behavior, scripting conversations, suppressing stimming, and exerting intense mental effort to track social cues. Over time, sustained high masking is strongly associated with autistic burnout, depression, anxiety, and a profound loss of self. Therapy can help you begin to identify and reduce masking patterns at a pace that feels safe.
Why are BIPOC and LGBTQ+ autistic people so often diagnosed late?
Autism research and diagnostic criteria were historically developed based on white, male, cisheteronormative presentations. As a result, the autistic traits common in AFAB, TGNC, and BIPOC communities such as high masking and relational camouflaging have been consistently overlooked or misattributed. Racial bias in healthcare also plays a significant role. BIPOC autistic individuals are more frequently given behavioral diagnoses rather than autism evaluations, and LGBTQ+ autistic individuals are often reduced to issues of identity. Nokdu Therapy's therapists understand the specificity of autistic experiences in LGBTQ+ and POC communities, and can support you in your process.
What is autistic burnout, and can therapy help?
Autistic burnout is when you reach a state of chronic exhaustion, reduced function, and increased sensitivity that results from sustained masking and navigating a neurotypical world without adequate support. It can look like depression, irritability, stress, and/or withdrawal. Therapy that is genuinely neurodiversity-affirming rather than compliance-focused can help you recover from burnout, reduce the masking behaviors driving it, and build a more sustainable way of living.
Do you offer therapy for autistic teens in Los Angeles?
Yes. We work with autistic teens ages 13 and up. Adolescence can be a particularly difficult time for autistic young people. The social demands increase significantly just as the gap between neurotypical peers and autistic experience widens. We work with teens individually and when desired and appropriate, can include family members to support the process.
How is autism therapy different from ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis)?
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a behavioral intervention focused on reducing autistic behaviors and increasing neurotypical compliance. It is not what we offer. Neurodiversity-affirming therapy does not try to eliminate autistic traits. Instead, we work to reduce suffering caused by a world that wasn't built for autistic people, support unmasking and self-understanding, and address co-occurring experiences like anxiety, burnout, or trauma. Our approach is grounded in respect for your neurotype as a legitimate way of being in the world.
Does telehealth work for autistic clients?
Yes! And for many autistic clients, telehealth is actually preferable. Many autistic people have already built some of their strongest relationships through online spaces. And attending therapy from your own environment can help manage the sensory and logistical overwhelm that comes with travel and unfamiliar people and spaces. Telehealth provides the opportunity to manage your own sensory environment during sessions. We offer secure video therapy to clients throughout Los Angeles and all of California.
Is therapy for autism covered by insurance at Nokdu Therapy?
We are not in-network with insurance providers. If you have a PPO plan that covers out-of-network mental health services, you will receive a monthly superbill to submit for reimbursement. We also maintain limited sliding scale availability for clients for whom cost is a genuine barrier. Please bring this up during your free consultation.
Ready to Work With a Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapist in Los Angeles?
Schedule a free 20–30 minute consultation. Telehealth available in California and Los Angeles. No diagnosis required to reach out.