Is autism JUST trauma? (What’s the link between autism, trauma and psychological safety?)

It’s not just trauma. We are traumatised by how society treats us but we are definitely wired differently

I saw some tweet or something where someone had put it into words pretty well, can't find it now so I'm paraphrasing: The reason why it is so hard to distinguish autistic traits from trauma is that society produces no none-traumatised autistic people.

Bullying causes trauma and when one is on the spectrum, we tend to get bullied/ rejected 😫

When you said the book was heavy, my first reaction was "well how heavy could it be? Would I not be able to carry it?" 😂

The medical community needs to advise parents to be assessed when their child is diagnosed with autsim. I know I'm autistic, my parent is autistic and so is my child. It's much harder for females especially adults to be diagnosed. We are dismissed because we mask a lot more. Tired of NTs pretending to be pro-autistics but angry when we are ourselves, direct.

I second "The body keeps the score", as an autistic woman who also has PTSD and CPTSD, from several different causes, including living in the NT world as an autistic person, but a lot of other stuff too, this book has been much more helpful than any professionnals (psychologues) I had the opportunity to see.

I'm Autistic and also have C-PTSD. They are very much overlapped and intertwined, but still ultimately separate. Autism has been part of me since I was born, trauma has been acquired over the years. Once upon a time I was a very happy Autistic child who was full of joy, energy and potential (especially since it turns out pretty much my whole family is undiagnosed Autistic and could naturally understand me)! My main troubles began as soon as I had to interact with the outside world... one of my earliest traumatic memories is from age 2, sitting in a group of other kids for the first time and feeling the dawning horror of intense alienation as I observed their expressions and interactions. Things continued the same way from there. I constantly tried to show up as my authentic self, and I was constantly made aware that no one could understand or accept that reality. I created a mask in order to survive, and as I got older I would experiment with pulling the mask away in different situations. Every time I did, it became very clear that people liked and understood 'me' with the mask on, but found me bizarre and incomprehensible with the mask off. Alongside the social trauma came daily sensory overload, sympathetic overload, cognitive differences and horror at the various dehumanising and incompetent 'systems' I was forced to participate in. My trauma gradually grew, being repeated and reinforced every day, yet being invisible from the outside. By mid-teens I was nearly 'out of my mind' with stress, experiencing profound agitated depression every day, very distorted thinking, suicidal ideation, secretly self-harming and abusing alcohol, almost constantly dissociated, completely withdrawn, often unable to speak, having periods of near-catatonic shutdown where I stayed still in bed for days or weeks. At 16 I dropped out of school, finishing education online, and point-blank refused to see my friends ever again. Doctors were no help, constantly minimising and dismissing my experiences, and despite my parents asking for help over and over, none was ever available (I'm in the UK). I didn't fit any kind of 'model' and because I was self-contained, articulate, got good grades (this was easy), didn't cause trouble at school and didn't attempt to kill myself the system was happy to let me fall through the cracks. In fact I only became aware I might be Autistic in my early 30s after years in therapy, partly because as I processed trauma and my mental state improved, my ability to manage the 'simple' activities of daily life remained static (confusing my therapist). Partly because, as I was gradually able to be less dissociated and more in touch with bodily sensations, the weight of my sensory trauma began to become apparent, and partly because nothing else could explain how I had been so profoundly traumatised by 'normal' everyday life, or why I had always felt so incredibly different from other people to the point where that intense mis-match of perspective, the endless feeling of never being accurately 'seen' or 'heard' or having any truly reciprocal social connection since early childhood became a significant traumatic factor. I'm still struggling hugely after having seen multiple therapists over 10+ years of adult life, and engaging with therapy very enthusiastically! I don't lack competence or motivation, yet I'm completely unable to work, maintain a healthy lifestyle, or form long-lasting social connections. Every time I try to sustain any of these things I end up in complete collapse with severe symptoms. Since realising Autism is part of the picture and finally getting diagnosed, I'm now trying to find an Autistic therapist who specialises in Complex Trauma, but with limited resources that's extremely difficult... it's a very very long and exhausting journey trying to get appropriate help, and there is no system of support. I find a lot of conventional advice for C-PTSD doesn't necessarily apply for Autistic people. For example 'grounding' exercises which involve mindfulness, focus on breathing or focus on bodily sensations can be extremely triggering and unworkable for me (leading to 'expert' therapists becoming confused and frustrated). There's also a focus on group therapy, relational healing, and 'group coherence' activities such as singing, clapping, dancing... which is also incredibly triggering for me, as it ends up reinforcing the 'mis-match' in perspective, communication and emotional affect which caused a lot of my trauma in the first place. There is also a big focus on the idea "fix your lifestyle first and healing will follow" where patients are expected to be able to engage with regular exercise, healthy eating plans, yoga, meditation, social activities etc. and 'resistance' against this – e.g. failure to improve as a result, or (in my case) finding these things massively increase stress and being unable to engage with them in the first place, or even getting worse when trying to keep up – is pathologised and seen as an unwillingness to engage with therapy or "putting up blocks" against healing. On the other hand I tried seeing a therapist who specialises in Autism, but they really did not seem to have a deep understanding of C-PTSD (despite claiming to), often not seeming to fully understand what I meant when I described symptoms, trying instead to convince me that everything could be 'explained away' in terms of Autism alone – for example trying to convince me that traumatic flashbacks and severe dissociation were "just Autistic meltdowns." I think it's really, really important that more therapists train with a dual specialism in Autism and C-PTSD since there is such a notable crossover between the two. There's a great need for models and expertise from both fields to be combined, and especially to incorporate the experiences and wisdom of people who are diagnosed with both, as we can give vital insight into the complexities of this 'grey area' which simply cannot be gleaned through external observation.

When I went through quite a traumatic time then 'acting normal' became too difficult and I was suddenly acting a lot more autistic than before. (I only got diagnosed after this.) I think it is because the things that get called 'autistic behaviour' are mostly just the ways that autistic people cope with stress and anxiety. So when stress and anxiety are increased a lot then it becomes too hard to suppress autistic behaviour.

As someone who realized that they were autistic, and then later realized that they suffered trauma from their family, it's been difficult for me to separate the two. I even had a bit of a crisis where I thought that I wasn't autistic at all, but that I was just a traumatized neurotypical. I'm definitely autistic though, some of my earliest trauma is related to my unusual behaviors and being punished for being "weird." But it's been difficult separating the "normal" trauma of being autistic in a neurotypical world, from the abuse that I suffered from my family, that they would have done whether I was autistic or not.

I'm currently working for a company that has 80% autistic employees. Most of my social trauma comes from the workplace. There I can work on social skills, teamwork and self development as an employee in my own way (which has become scary due to trauma) in a safe space. To me, it's like work And therapy wrapped into one. And most of my coworkers are going through the same process right now so I'm no longer alone. Being a dad is definitely helping too, since my sensitivity as well as my determination have proven quite valuable for being a loving parent that provides clear and consistent rules and care. I find that consistency is very important for my son's feeling of safety (he's 3 years old), even consistency about stuff he dislikes (bedtime, brushing teeth). And I really do understand his sensitivity and intense emotions on a personal level, so I tell him that I struggle with that too as well as how to cope (decompress, minimalize sensory input by letting him lay down or play in a dark room). It's also forcing me to get better at emotional self-regulation, especially around anger and self pity. It's not easy, but it's all for love and that to me is the best reason ever to work on myself.

Even into adulthood I still experience bullying, it's just now Workplace bullying and often goes overlooked as most people quit instead of speaking up, not to mention HR being unhelpful for those who do speak up.

I’m realizing that my autism has made most of my life experiences to be traumatic. I’m learning that I’m inherently broken by childhood trauma, but such trauma has been exacerbated by my hyper sensitive nervous system. I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but basically I feel like my autism and trauma are intertwined, and seem like one at times 😫

I'm autistic, and some of my autistic traits have led me in to situations which have caused me trauma. I have had the priviledge to get therapy, which has helped me overcome some of the trauma, and at that point it became clear that the underlying autism was something I needed to learn to live with. I was diagnosed at 41, after being treated for anxiety issues for two decades.

I am %100 disabled vet with PTSD and my 4 year son was diagnosed with Autism in April and I see how they are very similar in the way we both act outwards. Thank you for your video. 🤙

I often don't think before I speak 😳

3:00 Developmental trauma *Pervasive pattern of dysregulation *Problems with attention and concentration *Difficulties in getting along with self and with others

The similarity around the need to feel safe is such an insightful point. Safety isn't just about physical safety, but existential and social safety. You've made a lot of profound points. Thank you :)

Trauma and autism have a lot of crossover symptoms. They are also not mutually exclusive. I have autism but no trauma, aside from being autistic in an allistic world. My husband has trauma, but a lot of his symptoms are very similar to mine. We work with kids with trauma and/or autism and there is a difference between symptoms caused by trauma only and those caused by autism and trauma, but generally the same techniques help in both autism and trauma. Also, that book is excellent!

I always questioned myself if I'm autistic because of a trauma or if I've had a trauma because I'm autistic.

Being physically withdrawn, and easily drifting from awkward conversation are often perceived as PTSD. These behaviors can arise even when the interaction is enjoyed. These reactions go far beyond simple 'shyness'.