Research now indicates that autism has strong connections with PTSD in several important ways. There is an increased risk of social trauma from bullying, abuse, and alienation and a higher risk for exposure to other adverse events like poverty, mental illness, or social consequences from parents’ autism. The neurological variations also seem to be in the autonomic nervous system, which controls sensory processing, emotional regulation, and fight or flight responses, and in the prefrontal cortex, which helps with things like planning, decision making, and social interactions.

Key Features

Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum Insightful Analysis with Practical Applications - The relationship between autism and PTSD has historically been neglected in research and understanding but impacts the lives of many. Autistic people are intrinsically vulnerable to traumatic social situations and relationships, which can later manifest as PTSD.
The Trouble with Trauma Resolve the Impact of Abandonment and Fear of Rejection, and Understand the Importance of Connection in Recovery - In reality, trauma impacts all of us and many people just don’t realise that traumatic experience is the basis of a lot of their unhappiness.
Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD - The culmination of more than 25 years of clinical work and research, this is the authoritative presentation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Trauma Reaction Cards - A therapeutic tool to assist children and adolescents in understanding and identifying their reactions to traumatic or stressful life experiences. These colourful and illustrated cards are categorised into the four domains of trauma reactions: Behaviour Reactions, Body Reactions, Brain Thinking Reactions, and Feelings Reactions.

Additional Information

This may all contribute to those with autism being more vulnerable to developing the stress disorder. These resources provide advice and a practical framework for understanding how trauma impacts lives and what can be done to resolve it.

Navigating situations where one feels entirely at odds can lead seemingly commonplace events to be processed as traumatic experiences. In this unique collaboration, Lisa Morgan and Mary Donahue explore PTSD in autistic adults as patient and practitioner. Lisa shares her personal experiences as an autistic adult, reflecting on emotionally traumatic events and their effect on her daily life. Mary examines the challenges surrounding diagnosis, reworking and developing communication and clarifying the symptoms of PTSD within the autistic population. Combining lived experience with professional expertise, this clear and accessible guide will provide a better understanding of autism and PTSD, providing support and direction to autistic adults processing trauma and those involved in their care.

The value of understanding ourselves is not always clear in relation to how we interact with others, how we treat ourselves or how we find our best balance in order to feel that life is fun, enriching and fulfilling. You’ve heard of Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ – all practical needs for survival. Our primary emotional need is for connection. Our connections as children denote our connective capacity as adults. Author, psychologist and trauma specialist Kerry Howard believes that our challenges as human beings all centre around a central theme: our childhood issues. These issues are at the basis of all of our health challenges in our lives. In The Trouble with Trauma, Kerry brings together the differing elements of trauma in one place incorporating biology, neurology, psychology, physiology and epigenetics to consider the reason that trauma causes physical and psychological changes in our bodies and what we can do to resolve them. Kerry peppers the book with her experiences in applying this information to her own life and with her clients. This book comes from a place of practical experience and credibility across all forms of personal transformation. Kerry provides down-to-earth advice on every aspect of the life-review process and provides a practical framework for understanding how trauma impacts our lives and what we can do to resolve it. The Trouble With Trauma is the answer for those people who have always wanted to be truly happy, focused on their health and satisfied in their bodies, who seek to gain a supportive network of friends and family and healthy relationships.

Written by the treatment's developers, the book includes session-by-session guidelines for implementation, complete with extensive sample dialogues and 40 reproducible client handouts.

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