Treating Trauma Amongst People on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder - Dr Laura Findlay, Clinical Psychologist with Applied Psychology Solutions & Dr Kathryn Newns, Clinical Psychologist with Hugh Koch Associates
24/07/14. Traumatic events can overwhelm a person’s ability to cope and can lead to serious long-term negative consequences for their mental health (in PI work we see individuals following trauma who are experiencing psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression, phobic responses, and sometimes more severe responses such as acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder). They may also experience problems with relationships and self-esteem. Each person will respond uniquely to a traumatic event, dependent on their personality, temperament and life experience.
People on the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically encounter lifelong difficulties with language and communication, initiating and maintaining personal relationships, and have narrowed areas of interest. People with ASD share many risk factors with people with intellectual disabilities which make them more vulnerable to experiencing trauma (King, 2010). They most commonly experience trauma as witnessing or being victim to accidents/disasters/violence (Mehtar & Mukaddes, 2011). However, in this population, what may be perceived as a minor accident to someone without ASD, can be a severe and potentially catastrophic event to someone with this diagnosis.
How a person with an ASD responds to a traumatic event is likely to depend on several factors...
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