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Andrea Polard
About
I am a clinical psychologist with over 25 years of experience, working with autistic, traumatized, and addicted clients. I have been assessing adults and adolescents in residential treatment centers for over six years, where I received in-person training in autism assessment and autism-specific coaching. Being on the autism spectrum, I have lived experience, too, which hopefully helps me connect with you. I have a life-long special interest in reading and writing. Eventually this led to authoring a book, A Unified Theory of Happiness, and over 100 articles on psychological health, human behavior, and development. I also love hiking in nature and living in the quiet mountains of Topanga.
The first book on psychology I ever read was about an autistic boy when I was 14 years old. It became the very reason why I wanted to become a psychologist --even though I had no idea that I was autistic myself. The boy in the book was so very different from me, but there was a profound affinity. It is of course also not a coincidence that I married a man with autistic characteristics. Eventually I fully understood my social and sensory challenges and decided to become trained in autism assessment. All I can say now is that I love what I do. The autistic population is my tribe.
To me, autism is not only a burden but a gift. I know that every autistic person comes with strengths that wait to be identified and utilized. Learning to be confident and feel good in one's own skin feels essential to a positive development and to launch one's independence. It is never too late to discover what might obstruct one's strength, and an autism diagnosis seems to be a great beginning for the process of this discovery.
