Complex PTSD in Autistic Adults: Autism, Trauma, and Society

PTSD and Autistic people. 5 big questions: 1) What is Damian Milton's concept of the "double empathy problem," and how does it contribute to trauma in autistic people from infancy? 2) How can everyday experiences lead to complex PTSD in autistic people over time? 3) What is situational mutism, and how does it relate to trauma responses in autistic individuals? 4) How does a "permanent breach to personal construct" help us understand the long-lasting effects of trauma on autistic people? 5) What are some unique ways that trauma manifests in autistic people that might be overlooked in traditional therapeutic settings? This weeks discussion addresses those questions as we explore the complex relationship between autism and trauma. The discussion touches on the concept of personal construct in relation to trauma. Damian Milton, an autistic academic and psychologist, is cited as describing trauma as a permanent breach to one's personal construct, requiring the individual to "start again" in terms of self-conceptualisation. This idea underscores the profound impact of trauma on an autistic individual's sense of self and their interaction with the world. The speakers, Vauna Beauvais and Eoin Stephens, both autistic themselves, say that trauma for autistic people can result from an accumulation of experiences rather than single catastrophic events, leading to complex PTSD. The speakers are psychotherapists and stress the importance of recognising the severity and permanence of trauma, agreeing with Damian Milton and likening it to physical injuries that never fully heal. The talk delves into the sources of trauma for autistic individuals, particularly in childhood. During the talk Eoin and Vauna explain that autistic adults were once autistic children. And that trauma can develop in childhood due to a mismatch between an autistic child's needs and their environment. For example, receiving insufficient soothing signals and regulation from caregivers, even when there's no deliberate harm intended. This mismatch, along with societal pressures and misunderstandings, can lead to complex trauma over time and continue through adulthood and lifetime. Various manifestations of trauma in autistic individuals are explored throughout this collegial chat, including hypervigilance, anxiety, situational mutism, and physical symptoms. Hypervigilance is mentioned as a common and significant every-day reality for autistic people. Later in the video Vauna talks in depth about Situational Mutism. This is described as a trauma response where an individual becomes unable to speak in certain situations, not by choice, but as a bodily refusal or inability to produce speech. Social power-dynamics are discussed, as well as overwhelm and a blockage in processing of relevance and context. A key concern raised in the text is the relative invisibility of autism-related trauma in therapeutic settings, despite trauma being a well-recognised topic in therapy in general. Eoin and Vauna call for therapists to have a think about this themselves, and reflect on whether a more nuanced and compassionate approach to understanding and treating trauma in autistic individuals is useful and would guide therapists well in their clinical practice. All references to client work do not reveal actual client details nor draw upon actual client conversations. They illustrate with vignettes and verbal collages of conversations that they have had in their sessions over decades. BLOG POST RELATED to this video: https://www.vanguardneurodiversitytra... Vanguard Neurodiversity Training: https://www.vanguardneurodiversitytra... CURRENT TRAINING ON OFFER: https://www.vanguardneurodiversitytra... Vauna Beauvais:   / vaunabeauvais   Vauna’s private practice: https://www.counsellingtherapyonline.... Eoin Stephens:   / eoinstephens   0:00 Complex PTSD in Autistic Adults: Autism, Trauma, and Society