Dr. Michelle Heyman is a licensed clinical psychologist with a rare and highly specialized breadth of expertise spanning clinical care, research, and school-based practice. With over a decade of experience in autism and neurodevelopment, she brings advanced training in comprehensive diagnostic evaluation, evidence-based treatment, and applied work within educational settings, allowing her to understand and support both children and adults across the full contexts of their daily lives. Trained and mentored by leading pioneers in the field, including Dr. Catherine Lord, Dr. Heyman is recognized for delivering an exceptional standard of care that integrates scientific rigor with deeply individualized, developmentally attuned clinical insight.
Dr. Heyman has extensive experience in the assessment of autism spectrum disorder and has advanced training in gold-standard diagnostic measures, including the ADOS-2 and ADI-R. Her evaluations are comprehensive, nuanced, and highly individualized. She integrates clinical interviews, standardized testing, and careful behavioral observation to provide diagnostic clarity and a clear, actionable roadmap for children, adults, families, schools, and multidisciplinary care teams. Working closely with families, educators, and providers to ensure cohesive, coordinated care, and she draws on her background in school psychology and behavior analysis to conduct Functional Behavioral Assessments (FBAs), provide school consultation, and deliver parent training that supports meaningful progress across settings.
What distinguishes Dr. Heyman’s work is her ability to meet individuals exactly where they are and help them move forward. She is highly skilled in working across a wide range of developmental profiles, from children who communicate through nonverbal or augmentative means to verbally fluent individuals with advanced cognitive abilities. She seamlessly adapts her approach to match each person’s developmental level, creating opportunities for engagement, growth, and connection that feel both accessible and empowering.
In addition to her diagnostic work, Dr. Heyman provides individualized, evidence-based therapy grounded in cognitive behavioral and behavioral approaches. She has advanced training in Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs), including Project ImPACT and JASPER, and integrates these approaches within a relationship-based, developmentally attuned framework to support social communication, emotional regulation, and adaptive functioning. She is also a certified PEERS® provider and leads social skills groups focused on building meaningful, lasting peer relationships.
Alongside her clinical work, Dr. Heyman has contributed to high-caliber research in autism and early development, including studies examining social communication, joint attention, and intervention outcomes. She has co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals and was part of the SPARK (Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge) initiative, one of the largest autism research efforts in the United States, designed to accelerate discovery through a national cohort of over 50,000 families.
Dr. Heyman’s clinical approach is strengths-based, collaborative, and deeply individualized. Through careful assessment and tailored intervention, Dr. Heyman helps children, adults, and families build meaningful skills, strengthen relationships, and move forward along their developmental path with greater confidence and clarity.