Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum

by Lisa Morgan, Mary P. Donahue

The relationship between autism and PTSD has historically been neglected in research and understanding but impacts the lives of many. Autistic people are intrinsically vulnerable to traumatic social situations and relationships, which can later manifest as PTSD. Navigating situations where one feels entirely at odds can lead seemingly commonplace events to be processed as traumatic experiences.

In this unique collaboration, Lisa Morgan and Mary Donahue explore PTSD in autistic adults as patient and practitioner. Lisa shares her personal experiences as an autistic adult, reflecting on emotionally traumatic events and their effect on her daily life. Mary examines the challenges surrounding diagnosis, reworking and developing communication and clarifying the symptoms of PTSD within the autistic population.

Combining lived experience with professional expertise, this clear and accessible guide will provide a better understanding of autism and PTSD, providing support and direction to autistic adults processing trauma and those involved in their care.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Mental Health, Disability, Self Help

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 21, 2020

Reviews

[Pia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings. I was hoping for more practical advice on techniques and modalities, but these are only in the last third of the book, and while creative modalities are mentioned in a throw away manner, no real attention is given to expressive/creative therapies, and the over-arching recommendation seems to be for CPT and TF-CBT, which have both been contraindicated in some autism/PTSD cases.

A lot of this book reads like a 101 primer for young students or newbies, and not actually like a book for practitioners, or even for people with ASD/PTSD - the first 90 pages (yes really, and the bulk of the book is only 235 pages) are spent defining ASD and PTSD before ever exploring both at the same time, and a surprising amount (30 pages) is spent on recognising abusive relationships in ASD, but…that’s not what the book claims to do on the cover or in the blurb. So all in all, less than half the book actually deals with ASD + PTSD in clients, and techniques to assist them and left me feeling a bit let down.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: ableism, abuse, mentions of suicide and suicide ideation, self harm, ptsd, trauma, mentions of ABA (called out as wrong 👍)

note: this review comes from an actually autistic person with ADHD and PTSD who is white.

*sigh* another book that looked promising, but is really just written really for non-autistic folk who work with us. Don't get me wrong, that's great, but just not really what was promised on the tin. No real stratagies on dealing with these often overlapping effects.

The interviews with Lisa were great, but only showed one person's life with being autistic with PTSD. Her experiences are sometimes similar yet sometimes miles from, say, my experiences. So much focus on Lisa's inability to comprehend metaphors was constantly brought up and applied to autistics across the board, which is a stereotype that, while very valid, isn't one I experience. I actually love metaphoric phrases and find that helps translate feelings I can't normally describe and I can use them to communicate those feelings to others. This book implies all autistics think 'in a pickle' means someone litterally being in a preserved cucumber. again, valid for some, but not all of us.

Lastly there is an over-reliance on the DSM and, aside from one sentence, no mention of race and the intersecting of trauma and PTSD for BIPOC. Just the cisgender white autistic experience. Not great. Let alone any mention of queer and trans folk.

Honestly despite my gripes with this I think it's imperative reading for any medical professional or family member of an autistic person. It's def. aimed more towards them, especially if they are wanting a introduction to these experiences. Just they need to know the (major) gaps.

[Korey Paul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is very clinical and spends most of the time reviewing what autism and PTSD are. In the therapies section, they talk about ABA, only briefly mentioning that it can cause PTSD (some studies show half of people who've gone through ABA have PTSD symptoms). The book seems more directed towards a non-autistic audience and has very little advice for actually living with PTSD on the autism spectrum, despite the title. I couldn't finish it.

[Nicole Westen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely thorough and so far has some of the best examples of what an autistic person's life is like. I picked this up hoping that it might help me with my PTSD, but this book is geared more towards the non-autistic professional. It's more informative and it is self-help. I only have one real complaint about it, and this isn't a make or break complaint, considering the concept is still gaining traction among non-autistic research. Autism is often classified as a 'lack of theory of mind', which is to say, that autistic people cannot conceive that others have different feelings, thoughts and motivations. Looking at it this way, it certainly appears that autism is a deficit, however, that theory is currently being challenged by the 'double empathy' theory. This theory posits that if autistics truly had difficulty with theory of mind, then autistic people would have even more difficulty communicating with other autistics than with neurotypicals. But so far research (and anecdotal personal evidence) has shown that autistics don't have a problem communicating with each other, it is when they try to communicate with neurotypical people that the problem occurs. So it isn't so much that autistics don't have theory of mind, but that we speak a different dialect, like American English and British English. Both are English, but there are quite a few differences in work usage that would lead to miscommunications. Example: in a blog I was reading the author mentioned that they had made 'chocolate chip biscuits' with their mother. My first thought was 'I know you can put chocolate chips in pancakes, but who the heck puts chocolate chips in biscuits?!' And then I remembered that this particular person lives in England, and in British English a biscuit is a cookies. So she made chocolate chip cookies.
One point that the authors consistently make, but don't quite state out-right, is that neurotypical people also lack theory of mind. Most help advice for autistics explains how to interpret neurotypical behavior and how to respond accordingly, but neurotypical people, with the privilege of being the majority, are not often encouraged to try and understand autistic people.
I could sympathize with the one author Lisa, because I was a late diagnosed autistic myself, although not nearly as late as she was. If you want to get a peek at the inner workings of the autistic mind, and why we seem to do the things we do, then read the portions written by Lisa that detail examples from her life. Or, y'know, ask an autistic person why they do things the way they do.

[LunaSanguine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel kinda sorry to write such a negative review because I believe this book was written in good intention but a few interesting thoughts aside this book was underwhelming.

This book and especially its understanding of autism/PTSD were way to based on the experience of one person: one of the two authors, Lisa who is indeed an autist with PTSD but also an individual person and not the essence of any diagnosis. Of course her experience matters but I have a rather different one.

Then there were several instances where autists just seemed weirdly othered. I'll give two examples:
1) The allistic (non-autistic) author Mary describes how she once took care of kids in a school. One child was bullied and when teachers asked him in front of the bullies "Do you actually like to do that [what bullies forced him to do]?" he said "Yes". Now author Mary goes on that this might be a good strategy for an allistic bullied child but not for an autistic child. That is just nonsense. It's like psychology 101 not to ask a bullied person about their emotions in front of the bullies?! That has literally nothing to do with neurotype.
2) Mary writes that sometimes a word has a completely different meaning for an allistic person and an autistic person. I mean yes because they're two different people. Once again this has nothing to do with neurotype. Two autistic people or two allistic people also interpret words differently.

One thing that especially bugged me was a sequence that went among the lines of: "Autists can have so many different combinations of traits but here is a list with common traits" and then literally only listed stereotypes. I am diagnosed by a therapist specialised on autism but maybe one of the points of this list applied to me. That seems actually harmful because two many "professionals TM" have no clue about autism and there is no need of more stereotypes and missinformation being spreaded.

As said before there were a few interesting thoughts in this book but there's so much to criticize about it that I can't recommend it.

(I actually didn't read the paperback but the eBook in the Tolino app)

[milo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

This was a insightful and valuable read. The authors do an excellent job of discussing the individual experiences of those living with PTSD and autism, shedding light on how these two conditions can intersect and impact one's daily life.

The book provides a wealth of information on the symptoms, causes, and effects of both PTSD and autism, which is especially helpful fr those who may be unfamiliar with either condition. The authors present a range of practical tips and strategies fr managing symptoms, including ways to reduce stress and anxiety, improve communication, and build healthy relationships.

However, one of the downsides of this book is that it mostly focuses on the separate experiences of PTSD and autism, rather than exploring in more depth how the two conditions intersect and influence each other. Additionally, the authors don’t delve much into alternative or creative therapies outside of ABA, which is a controversial therapy in the autism community.

Despite these shortcomings, ‘Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum’ is still an incredibly valuable resource fr anyone seeking to better understand and manage these two complex conditions. I would deffo recommend this book to anyone looking fr practical advice and insightful analysis on managing PTSD and autism.

[Tegan (Slant Postscripts) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing I will retain as insightful from reading this is that neurodivergent people experience trauma differently because “For autistic individuals, seemingly typical events can cause lasting trauma, too.” And even that isn’t particularly expanded on.

It’s repetitive and somewhat condescending. I don’t understand why CPTSD is just completely ignored. Why are the supposed authors both quoted throughout the text and who is actually writing the intermediary information? Them? Sigh.

Should have heeded the red flag in the preface that proclaimed "This book is the go-to book on PTSD in autistic individuals for the layperson, clinicians, first responders, family, and friends, as well as for academia."

[Samson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Einfach uff. Ich finds mega gut und wichtig. Vor allem, wie erklärt wird, wie sich die beiden Lebenserfahrungen zusätzlich befeuern können.

[Cecilia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Should be required reading for all, especially people who know they’ll be in contact with autistic people.

I feel really validated after reading this book, which is written by both an individual with ASD and PTSD and one without.

This book has a lot of good information, presented in a nicely organized way, and is fairly easy to read. Both professionals and regular people could learn a lot from this book.

I think I’m going to recommend this to my workplace’s diversity and inclusion group.

[Hannah Belcher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book, as it's the only one on the topic. The title is really misleading. It is about trauma in general and Autism, not PTSD, and the only lived experience is the authors, which isn't very insightful. I found it quite confusing, I was expecting to read more about PTSD, but it just rambled on about various traumas that autistic people experience. I didn't know if the authors were insinuating that that is the PTSD, or they were trying to say that being autistic and having PTSD is particuarly difficult because of these additional traumas. Whatever the case, what they describe is more CPTSD, and that's not mentioned anywhere. There's no helpful advice in it at all, and the research mentioned is very shallow. I would have liked to read more peoples' actual experiences of having PTSD. It was just a very dull and unhelpful read, and I felt overly indulgent of the authors. I could relate to some of Lisa's experiences, but they were very repetitive, particuarly stating over and over how she struggles with metaphors. That is definitely a sterotype I don't think applies to the majority of autistic adults. If you're autistic you will already know all this stuff. It might be useful for those trying to understand Autism and trauma, but would need more diverse lived experiences in it, and a different title and blurb!

[Marcy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really groundbreaking book that brings together two important areas - autism and PTSD, which often overlap, but there are still no straightforward approaches to dealing with this horrendous combination. The book is a balanced mixture of reviews of the data and literature as well as first-hand experiences from someone who has dealt with both. This is essential reading for anyone interacting with autistic people, especially given how easily traumatized people on the spectrum can be by things we may not ordinarily think of as traumatizing.

[READ ALL THE THINGS · Rating 3 out of 5]

late life diagnosis

I have received a late in life diagnosis. I felt this was a good book for individuals with limited understanding of PTSD and ASD. This book does not share diverse experiences and instead offers one—it does not speak for us all. It was still helpful. It did not discuss detailed ways that someone with ASD & PTSD can help themselves get better psychiatric help with PTSD.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare to find a book that specially tackles the dual diagnosis of PTSD and ASD. This book made me feel very seen and understood, and it helped bring clarity to why my brain does what it does or feels what it feels.

It’s also nice to read a book about ASD that comes from a place of presumed competence.

[Charyl]

It has opened about the life of an adult on the Autism spectrum. As a neurotypical adult, it is so difficult to understand an autistic person with PTSD experiences. This book is a must- read.

[Luca Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely an interesting read.

[Mary Donahue · Rating 5 out of 5]

These authors are phenomenal! Everyone should get a copy...