Trauma or ASD

[cooperbug]

Can ASD and previous trauma in children present the same?

Attachment Disorder and autism have a big crossover of symptoms, and attachment disorder can be a thing in many children who have suffered neglect or abuse.
I think this is one of those questions that a broad, sweeping statement might not necessarily be that helpful though.

My instinct is to ask you to tell us more, but obviously, for your privacy and the privacy of the child you might not want to. Remember this is a very public forum.

Superficially yes they can present the same. They don't illicit the same response to parenting techniques though.

In some ways trauma and ASD can look similar, but they also have significant differences. Same for attachment disorder and ASD - the Coventry Grid summarises these differences. Complicating matters someone could have ASD and have experienced trauma. Research indicatives autistic individuals may be at a higher risk of experiencing trauma and developing PTSD than the general population.

DS1 has complex MH difficulties including PTSD and untrained people ask fairly regularly whether he has ASD, he doesn’t but in some ways presents similarly. In other ways he’s very different though.

So is it normal for previous trauma and parenting to be considered as part of an ASD assessment at the time of the first appointment?

Yes, when we had to fill in the life history for ds2 at the start of the asd assessment process they asked us about possible traumic events in his past and took a detailed life history.

Yes. Any assessment should start with an open mind, not an assumption a child has ASD.

However, I feel (as I said above) that you are trying to elicit one word answers to something that you have the full story to.
Now, totally up to you how much information you want to put on the internet, but it really is difficult for people to be able to give one word answers to questions like these without context. Apart from anything else, assessments for autism are done differently in different authorities.

Thank you, I just wanted to confirm that the angle my daughter’s therapists are coming from is valid and common.
I suffered trauma myself in her first year of life and can’t help feel this has affected her and caused her behaviour ?Autism. The first appointment has made me come away with such a sense of guilt

It's possible that your trauma has affected your daughter but autism itself is genetic.

Agreed. It won't have caused autism.
It may (and I really want to reiterate the fact it might have) affected her behaviours. None of us can know. the assessment will begin to look at everything.