Can trauma from childhood cause autism?

[Rainbow03]

Someone I’ve come across has said that they had been told by a medical person that their child’s autism was caused by being fostered and the trauma.

Ive always thought it was there from birth.

Im asking because I don’t class my childhood as great. I am ND and I also have trauma from a bad marriage. I’m wondering if I was already ND and my parents constantly putting me in situations that overwhelmed me (classed as normal ND people) just caused me to feel worse.

I've wondered the same. I'm diagnosed autistic, suspect also ADHD. But I also have anxiety and depression from childhood and escaped DA so I do wonder if its actually like CPTSD or something. Or maybe the world has just broken me

No. Autism is neurological/ genetic and people have it when born (even if the symptoms manifest a bit later.) So the person having it predates any trauma they experience after birth.

Extreme neglect such as 'feral children' can effect people's development though of course. Or foetal alcohol syndrome can cause ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms, though of course most people with ADHD don't have that, it's just one of those things.

No. Autism is neurological/ genetic and people have it when born (even if the symptoms manifest a bit later.) So the person having it predates any trauma they experience after birth.

Extreme neglect such as 'feral children' can effect people's development though of course. Or foetal alcohol syndrome can cause ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms, though of course most people with ADHD don't have that, it's just one of those things.

I guess we just predisposed to have trauma as everything is just hard and most schooling and upbringing is for non ND children. The amount of times I’ve been blamed for my daughters demand avoidance. Apparently I’ve spoilt her , not disciplined her etc etc. I’ve learned she just can’t help it and I need to throw out the rule book.

Trauma and adverse childhood events (ACE) can cause attachment disorders / problems which can present in a very similar way to autism.

It used to he believed that 'refrigerator mothers' caused autism but it is now understood that it is a brain difference.

The ‘refrigerator mother’ theory is so shocking, not least because it was believed to be true for quite a few years.
If it was parenting that caused it, then why were other children in the same family not suffering from it when they were all brought up together?
Did that not occur to the doctors who supported the theory?

What’s refrigerator mother? At a guess it’s a cold mum.

No and I find the idea that it is some sort of brain damage incredibly offensive. From what I have seen and experienced including in my own children it is a genetic thing.

Having an open discussion shouldn’t need to be offensive. Having “damage” to the brain from trauma is not better than being born with diversity. I don’t think anyone has blamed anyone as everyone’s experience is different.

Why is it offensive? I’ve both ND and trauma.

The thing about the refrigerator mother is that in all likelihood the mothers being observed were autistic themselves and unable to show affection in the way that was 'expected'. In fact, they were in all likelihood the ideal mothers for their children. The doctors were utter morons, so jaded by misogyny, they were incapable of impartiality. The tragedy is that they were believed, unquestioningly.

The refrigerator mother was cold, unaffectionate and often unusually clever. They were regarded as 'unnatural' women. They would often arrive at their children's consultations having done a huge amount of research and observation. They may well have known more than the doctors. The term was coined by Kanner (in the 50s from memory). He was at the forefront of autism research for many years. However the idea of refrigerator mothers persisted into the 1980's and tbh it was so ingrained I'm not sure we're entirely out of its shadow.

Yes. An emotionally absent mother. It's quite possible that some of those mothers were autistic themselves and that impacted on their parenting. But, if that were the case, it would support the genetic theory and not the parenting one anyway. And it's also very misogynistic. Like much of medicine.

I am diagnosed autistic. My son and my brother both have the same diagnosed ND but both present with autistic traits. My brother more so than my son but neither has been assessed for autism.

My brother and I both experienced trauma from our childhoods and our mother was never assessed although we both strongly suspect she was also autistic.

The Coventry Grid explains the similarities in presentation but also the differing underlying root causes.

@Challengemonica did they think these mums caused autism?

Yes. They did.

Ah ok. I see. Those ladies sound like my mum apart from the clever part (don’t mean to sound rude), she is so so stubborn tho. I don’t think she is the cause of mine at all but I think she made it worse by not thinking about how I felt about anything and she was terribly controlling. I expect she controlled me so bad in order to stop the feelings she had.

I retaliated by throwing myself in schooling and stayed away doing my degree and masters in a world I had absolutely no idea how to live in in order to have control. Backfired as it made my trauma and anxiety out of the roof!

I wonder if there has been some misunderstanding.

Trauma, attachment difficulties/disorders, ASC and ADHD all straddle a set of symptoms and behaviours. There can be a lot of overlap and there is still ongoing research into what causes ASC

Some behaviours which stem from trauma can present in a similar way to some behaviours which stem from autism. But that is a parallel not a causation.
Autism is a brain structure thing, the cognition which governs all your functions from language production to understanding social cues to visual awareness or other sensory things is the way it is due to your brain structure. There have been MRI scans done of autistic and nt brains and certain specific areas may differ.
See examples in book by Temple Grandin

Trauma doesn't restructure your brain so doesn't cause autism.

However, brain functionality can be affected by other things too and hyper awareness, inability to focus, poor executive function, short term memory problems and many other things can be an effect of trauma, so some aspects of the way a person is able to conduct themselves may seem similar.

Doesn't mean they're the same thing though, and crucially, whether or how you might be able to bring about positive change would differ as the causes differ.

The symptoms of trauma can mimic the symptoms of autism.

The tragedy is that they were believed, unquestioningly.

Its so odd the doctors didn’t take the siblings into account as if their theory of refrigerator parents was correct all the children would have autism.

@ArchetypalBusyMum i thought that trauma did restructure the brain and can cause permanent damage? Different areas grow and other areas shrink?

Sounds like maybe the 'refrigerator mum's' were undiagnosed autistic people, and their children were autistic because they were by inheritance.
Medical science, not being so developed on the subject at the time, thought that they 'caused' the autism by being so cold, when actually it was just running in the family.

I can well imagine how being Nd, raised by an undiagnosed Nd mum and having abusive people in your life would make for some pretty complex combinations of coping strategies, points of view, experiences, understandings etc etc.

Sounds like you've got through a lot of really tough stuff and have still managed to build yourself and your DD a positive life... That's admirable! She's lucky to have you.

Noone knows. There are no biological markers for autism. There likely
multiple risk factors, some genetic and some epigenetic.

So some people could be at risk to develop autism and environmental events might increase the probability. I’d imagine this is more true for Level 1 autism as Level 3 autism is diagnosed earlier. I am not saying that all Level 1 autistics have had trauma. I am saying that a minority may have had a trauma that exacerbated particular traits.

Or, maybe not. No one knows despite the confidence expressed by previous posters.

People who have been abused can display behaviour similar to autism (and can sometimes even get misdiagnosed) but it’s ASD, it’s PTSD.

However, historically kids with ASD were more likely to be abused. Thank goodness there’s more ASD awareness now.

Yes Rainbow03, it was widely believed that lack of affection caused autism. It was seen as an attachment disorder.

That's not to say the two don't co-exist. Having children can cause particular challenges for an autistic parent. Mine became abusive. As I said up thread, ignored, it can become an intergenerational cycle of trauma which becomes interwoven with the neurodiversity.

Not always of course, but the more we understand ourselves, the better parents we can be.