do i have autism or trauma? (autism & cptsd/ptsd)

I thought we talked about

autism

and complex PTSD and there's a considerable amount of research that says that children who experience childhood maltreatment things like eggshell parents narcissistic parents immature parents mentally physically and emotionally insecure experiences often

have

differences, similar challenges and brain changes similar to children who also

have

autism

say again similar to the brain differences we see in autism. I'm going to read this to you. He says in his extensive review that this study concluded that early life stressors, particularly childhood maltreatment, are also associated with significant brain change in adults, particularly in the hippocampus, corpus colossum, insula, lateral prefrontal cortex. dorsal, often called PFC, the orbital frontal cortex, the anterior singulate gyrus, and the codigital nucleus, each of these areas has also been implicated in the brain differences we see in autism, the functional connectivity of the mygdala, the center of the fear of the brain and the PFC, they have been found in both autistic children and

trauma

tized children, so this is our baseline, we are talking about the fact that this is where we are now, we are at the beginning of Understanding this dynamic of autism .

I think it's important to leave room for the fact that there is still so much we don't know. We've done a lot of research on

trauma

, but it's not all about trauma in terms of understanding. The additional challenges that people may face for people with autism to have autism is almost inherently having some forms of diffuse complex relational trauma or PTSD, so I'm going to try to make this video short, it's been made longer and I've been redoing. I'll say this a few times, but I can save this part for you and tell you that if you think you have complex trauma and you think you have autistic traits or autism, you probably have both for many reasons, so what we're going to do is I'm going to talk as much as I can without you. this is six hours long, first the core differences because there aren't that many but they are important and then the significant overlap between complex PTSD and autism, like I said before, I forgot to say this, but this is really important there was a moment and if you read the book Neurotribes, which I highly recommend, there was a time when we just said that bad mothering caused autism and that was the belief among very educated people for the most part, so it's really important that you don't do that.

It doesn't force any of us to say something as if they were saying one thing, so it's true that we have a space that we don't know much about yet. I might come back in a year and say, “Oh, that was bad, right?” I don't know, but we don't know, to say it's dangerous to talk about this, to say whatever it is that's kind of a joke, it's like there aren't that many resources for people with autism anyway. I think the removal of Asbergers as a term I understand why for so many reasons, but it's easier for people if I made a video and said, oh, I have Asbergers in complex trauma.

I think because of the lack of awareness, understanding and education, that would be received differently for. For example, something like autism and trauma, I mean autism and complex PTSD, so there are all these nuances , words, changes and things that we are realizing that we just didn't know and that's really important, but to maintain that if the brain changes the neurode the divergences of trauma, childhood trauma and autism are similar, we have a problem there , and the core of those, I really think, seems like the biggest piece is the nervous system for both and that's partly why so many treatments for trauma can be helpful for people with autism.

The problem is that there are places where it won't work enough, so things like grounding are really helpful, but in other places we may fix the trauma but not understand the underlying parts, so let's get into it. The first thing to understand is that complex traumas and PTSD are acquired very quickly, they happen to you, you are not born with them, autism is born with them and, if you look at your family, it is probably someone in your family, your children, your parents. your siblings your aunts your uncles you say hm we have some similarities there, it's much more likely in your family system, doesn't mean it necessarily is, but it's more likely that one is happening and is acquired and the other is happening as a result of a kind of the way everything came together in the womb and then maybe the way it's expressed can change depending on your environment and things like that or parenting of course can affect the way those develop. things in secure environments, not secure environments, but the core.

The piece is already there, so I want to talk first about some core pieces of autism that can express themselves and perhaps some types of complex trauma that are very much the hallmark of autism, repetitive behaviors and self-soothing through the use of routines for a lot of repetition, a lot of routine life, schedules and systems, there is security in the fact that there is a dependency on that now, if you have ADHD, that can be another part of this, also very common with autism, we are not going to discuss that. today, so let's pretend that that doesn't exist, but that can interfere with that need to have a routine, but this may seem like you know, drifting, although anyone can, but it can, drifting can provide a source of not only pleasure but also of regulation, but a lot of that repetitive behavior, whether it's thoughts, behavioral patterns, whatever it is, there's a self-soothing in that that's very fundamental to the nervous system of people with autism, difficulty number two in intuitively reading the signals neurotypical, so the signs that the neurotypical world sets and I also think that, unlike complex trauma, part of the problem with autism is that it is not just the fear of rejection, namely, shame or not being accepted, which can be a big part of traumatic personality. everything is a problem what you say you share too much you share less you share the smell the lights the sound taking everything in what face you are making how you respond to those things you said too much anxiety is everything for for for that when I think about the differences there are with a trauma complex, maybe someone is afraid of being rejected or you know, having that reinforced narrative in their childhood, where for me sometimes I don't really care what you think of me, but this whole thing is fucked up. stressful what you're saying what I'm saying what I'm supposed to say where I am how long am I staying God that table over there with the appetizer smells disgusting like I'm not eating that food I never eat buffet food like There are so many things, it's well, we'll get back to that, actually that brings me to the next part, which is the sensory sensitivities that are also common in trauma, but these are your baseline, so I think if you have autistic traits, Now I have a lot of triggers. sensory, maybe they are not, they are not all the same, they can be very different and one can be stronger than another, but you have this profile of sensory sensitivities and their smell, texture and flavor, everything is fine.

It sounds like it's everything and we'll get back to it, but it's part of your baseline. You've always been like this and that affects things like how you regulate your mood correctly. If your sensory issues kick in, it's very difficult to regulate and then lastly, special interests tend to be very common for people with autism. Now let's say you have PTSD or

c

ptsd

. You will have to have a traumatic event. You don't need a traumatic event. In autism, you will have avoidance behaviors. Especially around things that trigger trauma, so with autism you may have a lot of things that you avoid that trigger intrusive thoughts or difficulty managing things or dysregulation, but it's not necessarily focused on something like avoiding triggers. related to trauma.

Three intrusive memories and flashbacks related primarily to the trauma, those with autism can have a lot of intrusive thoughts about all kinds of things, not just trauma-related, not just oh, I'd like to drive my car that way, but also, uh, I wonder what that means and then that leads you to the next thing and the next thing you know your brain is in a rabbit hole, like there are all kinds of thoughts that are happening at the same time, but around the experience of PTSD or from CPT there can be visual sensory emotional or physical flashbacks, of course if you have trauma and autism you can have these. two, but we act as if they are separate for now, okay, hypervigilance is very common in both, true, but when you have a trauma, you have learned to scan and hypervigilance fights ORF flight for safety over and over and over Maybe, so your nervous system is in that state most of the time, but maybe not all the time in the same way or around the same triggers or problems, whereas with autism you have this almost chronic state, often from hyperarousal, hypervigilance, it's like it's always happening there even if it doesn't look like it on the outside and you've learned to fake it and lastly, nightmares are now a big problem in autism, but nightmares specifically related to trauma or related events will be much more common with complex trauma or post-traumatic stress trauma.

Okay, so that's the core difference, right, and while I kept saying I still shared the similarities, let's talk about overlap, it's a significant dissociation, so for trauma, we're trying to manage where a lot of things are happening in our responses to trauma. trauma. purpose of dissociation for autism we may be doing the same thing because we may have trauma but also our brains may have different thoughts different parts of ourselves go to other places for different reasons in response to our sensory profile in response to social problems in answer According to our own stories, they are common difficulties in intimacy number two, obviously with autism, as I made a video a few weeks ago.

I think the process of not only communication and connection and all the things necessary to be in a relationship, but also the sensory issues, can be a huge problem in intimacy, saliva, smell, sounds, taste of the Intimacy can be very triggering and we have learned to overcome it and mask it, but deep down it can be very dysregulated and for someone with trauma if they are having difficulty with intimacy it may be due to security with their body or trusting people, of course, they can also have sensitivities with sensory issues, but it's more about the state that maybe once was safe and now is not safe, if that makes sense, so I don't think you'll see it with the same intensity and degree as with autism number three: increased risk of victimization, so we know that people with autism are at much higher risk than those with trauma, for many reasons, negative beliefs about self and the world of the world and of course if you have had a rape of trust and a repeated dynamic at home with abuse, you will feel bad about yourself, that is the core, right, I am bad, there is something wrong with me and also with autism if you have had the world not respond well to you.

You have been punished for it. You have been harassed. You can't stop that and so between the experiences and the way your brain works, there may be a deep flawed sense of identity for both of you, but for different reasons, a heightened sensitivity to sensory information, so with trauma, of course, you're going to I have like I'm talking about sensory issues especially related to trauma, but with autism her baseline will always be sensitive and maybe she'll be hyperaroused by certain experiences, but deep down that's what high rates of depression from substance abuse and self-harm for both are very common and I think the core of this has to do with dysregulation of the nervous system for both and trying to control hypervigilance, overactive nervous systems, intensified startle, that all makes sense, except for the person with autism, I would say they are born more likely. a dysregulation that will occur much more frequently in the podcast that I'm going to link below was very helpful and there are really great images from Dr.

Megan Nev, she provides this example of a study where they gave injections to autistic people. children and non-autistic children and they found that the autistic children took longer to return to regulation after the, you know, the trauma of discomfort, whatever, of receiving a vaccine, but that even when the autistic children seemed to be well they were still dysregulated and I think she calls that reference to some researcher false regulation which makes me think a lot about avoiding attachment, but this idea that you've learned to put on a face that you're okay but inside you're enormously anxious. dysregulated whatever, um, in the core, but with a trauma that you will have to have, you know you develop this and of course you are more nowthat bad things have happened to you or whatever that you are going to be more of.

Impulse response control difficulties for both for different reasons, but also similar to that brain at first. She was talking about brain changes. The same goes for executive functioning. The same dynamic. Sleep problems for different reasons. Trauma and autism and bypass, like I said, bypass can. I have many reasons why we do it, but autism really provides not only pleasure but also a way to regulate it, but that would potentially be true for those with trauma, so that's what complicates it and also means that I found out that it is that Having autism and then trauma means that the way the trauma is expressed may look different to you, that the trauma may exacerbate underlying autistic traits such as rumination, regression of communication skills, as well as behaviors and stereotyped speech, and that we can see a lot more rumination in autism when we have a trauma, so if you think about If you come into the world with a heightened sensory response and you have a predisposition to ruminate, to think deeply, to overthink and you have a trauma , you are prepared for the trauma to be more impactful and, in fact, some research. shows that for autistic people even social situations can be really traumatic, but that is not part of the DSM criteria and depending on what research you look at, in some cases more than women having social traumas makes a lot of sense, but that For many people with autism that social dynamics can be traumatic for them, so we are seeing things like 70% of people with autism also have a co-occurring mental health problem, such as anxiety, depression, OCD and even 60% of people with autism have experienced PTSD. in some ways compared to the general population, so what that also means is that just because you have trauma if you don't have autism actually anything, for example, doesn't mean you're going to have PTSD, in fact, most people No they don't have PTSD, they have the trauma, they get over it, but if you have autism and you have trauma, up to 60%, 30 to 60%, are much more likely to have PTSD-like symptoms, so In essence we have this.

Overactive Amydala, this part of our brain that is a fire alarm, in both trauma and autism, we have a lot of hyperarousal and one study said that people with more autistic traits often show a specific way, a certain flavor of PTSD which is a character characterized by more hyperarousal. startle responses, more insomnia and they are more predisposed to anger and anxiety or concentration problems, so the core of this is that with autism we encode things more, we respond more with our brain and that makes us more vulnerable. having a trauma, the last thing I want to share is something that I also found, and I think my goal is to make it somewhat, probably more confusing, but stop forcing you to just decide if it's one or the other, but maybe look at those things more nuanced around autism to start differentiating because it does make a difference, you know, and the problem is that a lot of therapists don't understand autism until this last year especially included high masking and if I really don't understand it.

I think you can really miss out on helping people and you can safely misdiagnose them. That's a different video, but some research shows that autistic people find certain things more traumatic than non-autistic people, for example, abandonment by someone or losing a pet sensory experiences like a fire alarm that actually goes off. activates Transitions and changes, so things like school transitions changes in routine in the seasons unpredictability in everyday life and I would say things like movements that I have thought a lot about I have always said that I think the most traumatic for my children during my divorce was the move and the change and in some way I think that did more damage and now I am starting to wonder about my profile in which flavors and which ones. parts of them and which of them may have been most affected: social difficulties and confusion, difficulties interpreting social cues and misunderstandings, maybe you misunderstood something and were embarrassed.

I'm not going to share it here, but I've had three very different experiences. where I felt like I had been misunderstood and punished for those things as a child and as an adult for things that I thought I was being normal and until I did this research I hadn't thought, oh my gosh, what if that's what it means? I don't know, but they were all traumatic events in different ways, two of them were traumatic, one was the same. I still think about it a lot. I wouldn't call it traumatic and then events related to one's own mental health, so having a psychotic break as serious mental health issues can cause trauma and that autistic people may be more likely to find these experiences traumatic due to traits like sensory sensitivities difficulties. of communication and interaction distress about changes in routine and distress if prevented from engaging in repetitive and restrictive behaviors, such as shunting, so shunting can help us figure out some things, so the core of this is that some theories suggest that other factors associated with autism may mean an increased risk of developing or maintaining PTSD symptoms, such as neurological and genetic factors focused detailed processing - in other words, a tendency to focus on details, very common in autism, to like being hyper-focused and not seeing the big picture, more rumination, so you can't stop thinking about your negative feelings and events and thoughts, being more flexible. in your thinking, avoidance, and emotion regulation difficulties, so I think the challenge is that I know this probably won't help in any way.

Oh, one of my dogs is getting fussy. I'm going to end this to understand what I just spilled. my coffee there we go with my proprioception problems always falling or spilling something I didn't even mention in that, but the core of it is that these problems are difficult and we have to hold space, as I said at the beginning, for what we don't I don't know , but if you're questioning it, I'll just go back and say: look at your baseline. If you say I have, I know I have complex trauma or trauma, I'm not sure about autism, spend some time researching. your history of sensitivity around your sensory issues look at your communication and social dynamics historically look at your repetitive behaviors and how you might self Soo the routines because that's where I think it gets difficult.

I think a lot of us are going, yeah, it says

c

ptsd

trauma makes sense. I get it, but we were like, oh, I don't know about this other piece and that's why I did this deep dive and like I've been saying, I think my experience is pretty typical: I'm going to slow down. I think my experience is pretty typical. A client told me a couple of months ago oh, I found your Tik Tok. I didn't know you were autistic and I thought: I'm not autistic, what do you mean? That was my first thought. because I don't know yet, I'm still in the place where I'm researching and understanding and making space and learning and I think like I was saying, it's typical to start having this thing in your brain going off and be like I don't know if that's what it is. , but I know that it is not so correct and explains many things.

I think the last thing I'll say is that I think because of the language that we're evolving with autism, I think if there was a word for high masking that's how it seems to me and I know there are arguments about why not do this because either you're not a a little bit you're not a little bit autistic you're not, but I think that language is acquired because people don't have enough education and we still don't know it. We do not know it yet. I'm stuttering right now. We still don't know enough. That makes it difficult for us to say.

Oh yeah, that's true too, but I have to say there's nothing in any of that when I talk about autism that doesn't ring true for me and when I look around in my immediate family I see it, I see it, I see it. and once you see it you can't unsee it, so it's a different story, but I hope this helps you. I hope it really does because I think it's very confusing and overwhelming and at the same time it's important because if you know that there are some fundamental parts of yourself that you think are autistic, there are some therapies and things that won't help you, there are some things that they will make you feel bad about yourself and that you can't control, for example, like anger responses to Sensory triggers for me are huge and very disturbing.

They determine where I go, what I do, how I respond to my sensory issues as much as anything else, and it's been incredibly validating to understand, so I know I've had to let go of some things. Out, I'll make more videos on this topic, but since I made that video last weekend and so many of you seemed to really like it and so many of the comments are about "okay," I understand all of this. I feel like this could be autism, but I also have trauma. I really wanted to focus on the overlap, but also tell you where to go if you're still unsure and the last thing I'll say is that a diagnosis you want to research in a lot of places.

It may not be useful, there are no resources, it could have a negative impact on your life, in many places it could be a positive impact, so it's not just like "oh, I think I have this." If I am diagnosed, you should really research where you live and where. you are whether a diagnosis will benefit you or not and then what are the things that are my next hopeful goals in this year to say okay, I don't know, I don't know if I need a formal diagnosis, but I need help with these things, what helps and what doesn't, that's my goal and I'm going to end this video by saying that if you have one or the other or both, grounding techniques, things that will help you regulate the nervous system.

Poly Bagel Techniques. Regulation of the nervous system. very, very useful somatic therapies. I just got a new workbook on somatic interventions and I'm still reading about it, but I want to share, I'll share more and more of it and the last thing I'll say is that I'm going to be hopefully publishing a course on eggshell parenting. about child abuse specifically around mentally insecure and physically insecure parents who you couldn't predict who you were walking on eggshells with and I'm going to add a section to the course or at least a lesson or two. do it if you also think you had autism and you have these types of parents because I think it's incredibly important to understand so that's all please stay safe and healthy and I think thank you very much for your time and thoughts here take care of yourself and may have a good day, bye