Diagnostic Complexity: Assessing the Intersection of Autism and Personality Disorders

Length
2 hour

CE Credit
2.0 unit

Recorded
April 17, 2026

In this training, clinicians learn about assessing autism spectrum disorder and personality disorders in adults, focusing on overlap, context, and diagnostic clarity.

Key insights:

  • Overlapping traits can mask key differences in social motivation, rigidity, and interpersonal patterns
  • Cultural and contextual factors can shift how symptoms present and are interpreted
  • Structured assessment tools help clarify diagnosis, especially in complex or comorbid cases

Training Options

There are several ways to learn from this training. You can either watch the recording for free or take the self-paced course for CE credit. We also have the slides available to download. 

Watch Recording

(Free) You can watch the full recording of this training for free on our YouTube Channel. This is perfect if you’re not seeking CE credit or would like to preview the training before taking the course.

($37) You can receive 2 hours of self-paced, asynchronous CE credit for this training.

UCEBT is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. UCEBT maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Additionally, this presentation is approved for 1 hours of home-study CE credit through NASW-UT, UAMFT, and UMHCA.

Follow along with the recording by downloading the presentation slides personal use.

However, please note that no part of the materials available through the Utah Center for Evidence Based Treatment may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form, in whole or in part, without prior written consent of the presenter and creator of the presentation. Contact info@ucebt.com for questions.

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About This Training

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Personality Disorders (PD’s) are both complex diagnostic presentations that have some symptom overlap, making differentiating the two in undiagnosed adults challenging. This training will present the latest research on the intersection of these two disorders, similarities and differences in symptom presentations, and how to best approach psychological evaluations for them. There are no known risks to attendees or patients. As with all clinical interventions, attendees should be careful about utilizing assessment measures without appropriate training and supervision.

Learning Objectives: 

  1. Describe similarities and differences in symptom presentations between ASD and at least two different personality disorders.

  2. Identify two ways different cultural and contextual variables can impact the presentation of ASD and personality disorders.

  3. List at least 3 testing measures that are useful for adding diagnostic clarity in the case of suspected comorbid ASD and personality disorder.

About the Presenter

Matthew Januzik, Psy.D., clinical psychology. Dr. Januzik was previously a doctoral student at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology & Marriage and Family Therapy, and completed an APA-accredited internship at Wasatch Behavioral Health. Dr. Januzik specializes in providing comprehensive neurodevelopmental and psychodiagnostic evaluations for a wide variety of clinical presentations. He has practiced for multiple years in community mental health centers, where many of his patients presented with complex clinical concerns, including personality disorders, autism, ADHD, trauma, psychosis, and mood disorders.

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References

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American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision. Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing. doi:https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787​

Ames, J. L., Morgan, E. H., Onaiwu, M. G., Qian, Y., Massolo, M. L., & Croen, L. A. (2022). Racial/Ethnic Differences in Psychiatric and Medical Diagnoses Among Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, 4(4), 290-305. doi:10.1089/aut.2021.0083​

Autism Speaks. (2026). Autism statistics and facts. Retrieved from Autism Speaks: https://www.autismspeaks.org/autism-statistics-asd?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=10453988541&gbraid=0AAAAAD02pYtQ4VX3yh27tcFxbmhKSYdBY&gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPLOBhCiARIsAKRMPZoDh9jrUqrYW1L_65VCz9XBMOIUyoKLLZyAOxc_mw9Yqo8dkgI0B-4aAv09EALw_wcB​

Aylward, B. S., Gal-Szabo, D. E., & Taraman, S. (2021). Racial, Ethnic, and Sociodemographic Disparities in Diagnosis of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 42(8), 682-689. doi:10.1097/DBP.0000000000000996​

Becerra, T. A., Ehrenstein, O. S., Heck, J. E., Olsen, J., Arah, O. A., Jeste, S. S., Rodriguez, M., & Ritz, B. (2014). Autism Spectrum Disorders and Race, Ethnicity, and Nativity: A Population-Based Study. Pediatrics, 134, 63-71. doi:10.1542/peds.2013-3928​

Bemmouna, D., Coutelle, R., Weibel, S., & Weiner, L. (2022). Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for autistic adults without intellectual disability: A mixed methods study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52, 4337-4354. doi:10.1007/s10803-021-05317-w​

Booules-Katri, T.-M., Pedreno, C., Navarro, J.-B., Pamias, M., & Obiols, J. E. (2019). Theory of Mind (ToM) performance in high functioning autism (HFA) and Schizotypal-Schizoid Personality Disorders (SSPD) patients. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49, 3376-3386. doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04058-1​

Center for Disease Control. (2025, May 27). Data and statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Retrieved from Center for Diseases Control: https://www.cdc.gov/autism/data-research/index.html​

Cornwall, P. L., Simpson, S., Gibbs, C., & Morfee, V. (2020). Evaluation of radically open dialectical behaviour therapy in an adult community mental health team: Effectiveness in people with autism spectrum disorders. BJPsych Bulletin, 45, 146-153. doi:doi:10.1192/bjb.2020.113​

Gadelkarim, W., Shahper, S., Reid, J., Wikramanayake, M., Kaur, S., Kolli, S., Osman, S., & Fineberg, N. (2019). Overlap of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and autism spectrum disorder traits among OCD outpatients: an exploratory study. International Journal os Psychiatry in Clinical Practice, 23(4), 297-306. doi:doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2019.1638939​

Gillett, G., Leeves, L., Patel, A., Prisecaru, A., Spain, D., & Happe, F. (2023). The prevalence of autism spectrum disorder traits and diagnosis in adults and young people with personality disorders: A systemic review. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 57(2), 181-196. doi:10.1177/00048674221114603​

Gordon, C., Lewis, M., & Knight, D. (2020). Differentiating between borderline personality disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Mental Health Practice, 23(3), 22-26. doi:10.7748/mhp.2020.e1456​

Keller, R., Chieregato, S., Bari, S., Castaldo, R., Rutto, F., Chiocchetti, A., & Dianzani, U. (2020). Autism in adulthood: Clinical and demographic characteristics of a cohort of five hundred persons with autism analyzed by a novel multistep network model. Brain Sciences, 10(416). doi:10.3390/brainsci10070416​

Kendler, K. S., Ohlsson, H., Sundquist, J., & Sundquist, K. (2024). The genetic epidemiology of Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Psychological Medicine, 54, 2144-2151. doi:10.1017/S0033291724000230​

Kentrou, V., Oostervink, M., Scheeren, A. M., & Begeer, S. (2021). Stability of co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses in autistic men and women. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 82. doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2021.101736 ​

National Institute of Mental Health. (2007). Personality Disorders. Retrieved from National Institute of Mental Health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/personality-disorders#part_2615​

Richards, G., Kelly, S., Johnson, D., & Galvin, J. (2023). Autistic traits and borderline personality disorder traits are positively correlated in UK and US adult men and women. Personality and Individual Differences, 213. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2023.112287 ​

Rinaldi, C., Attanasio, M., Valenti, M., Mazza, M., & Keller, R. (2021). Autism spectrum disorder and personality disorders: Comorbidity anddifferential diagnosis. World Journal of Psychiatry, 11(12), 1366-1386. doi:10.5498/wjp.v11.i12.1366​

Ritschel, L. A., Guy, L., & Maddox, B. B. (2022). A pilot study of dialectical behaviour therapy skills training for autistic adults. Behavioural andCognitive Psychotherapy, 50, 187-202. doi:10.1017/S1352465821000370​

Sarr, R., Spain, D., Quinton, A. M., Happe, F., Brewin, C. R., Radcliffe, J., Jowett, S., Miles, S., Gonzalez, R. A., Albert I., Scholwin, A., Stirling, M.,Markham, S., Strange, S., & Rumball, F. (2025). Differential diagnosis of autism, attachment disorders, complex post-traumatic stress disorder, andemotionally unstable personality disorder: A Delphi study. The British Psychological Society, 116(1), 1-33. doi:10.1111/bjop.12731 ​

Watts, J. (2023). Engendering misunderstanding: autism and borderline personality disorder. International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice,27(3), 316-317. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2023.2187843​

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Zavlis, O., & Tyrer, P. (2024). The interface of autism and (borderline) personality disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 225, 360-361.doi:10.1192/bjp.2024.80​

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