For example, if an individual with autism experiences trauma and bullying growing up, they are likely to have social anxiety and become easily overstimulated in social situations. This, in turn, can cause autism meltdowns, anxiety, and depression.
A recent study by Roberts et al. (2015) found a strong association between trauma, PTSD and autistic traits (which may have been sub-clinical) in adult women. This association was highest amongst those women with the most severe autistic traits.
The risk of PTSD is higher for groups who are more likely to be exposed to traumatic events. Research indicates that autistic people may be more likely to experience traumatic life events, particularly interpersonal traumas such as bullying and physical and sexual abuse.
Despite these differences, there are some similarities between PTSD and autism that can make them difficult to distinguish. For example: Both conditions can cause anxiety or fear in certain situations. Both conditions can cause difficulty with social interaction and communication.
Pediatric traumatic brain injury (TBI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are two serious conditions that affect youth. Recent data, both preclinical and clinical, show that pediatric TBI and ASD share not only similar symptoms but also some of the same biologic mechanisms that cause these symptoms.
Exposure to high levels of both sexual abuse and physical and emotional abuse could be associated with greater risk for autism in offspring than exposure to either type alone.
1 People with other neurodivergencies, like schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), or even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), might also stim.
Fawning is an attempt to avoid conflict by appeasing people. They are both extremely common in neurodiverse people as it is a way for them to hide their neurodiverse behaviours and appear what is deemed to be “normal”. Therefore, it has been proposed that masking and fawning are just modern-day survival instincts.
Masking may involve suppressing certain behaviours we find soothing but that others think are 'weird', such as stimming or intense interests. It can also mean mimicking the behaviour of those around us, such as copying non-verbal behaviours, and developing complex social scripts to get by in social situations.
In conclusion, there are many factors that can make autism worse. Sensory overload, changes in routine, social isolation, co-occurring conditions, and lack of support can all exacerbate the symptoms of autism.
Autism is not an illness
It means your brain works in a different way from other people. It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older. If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life.
While cognitive empathy can be lower in people with autism, affective empathy—which is based on instincts and involuntary responses to the emotions of others—can be strong and overwhelming. In fact, newer research suggests that some people with autism may actually feel other people's emotions more intensely.
Can Autism Get Worse With Stress? Stress can be a significant factor in exacerbating the symptoms of autism. Research has shown that stress can increase repetitive behaviors, anxiety levels, and sensory sensitivities in individuals with autism.
Although ASD and TBI present similar symptoms, there is no evidence that ASD is caused by trauma or injury to the brain.
Across genders, masking is associated with more symptoms of generalized and social anxiety, as well as depression. One study found that those who said they used masking had higher rates of suicidality. Autistic individuals also report extreme anxiety and stress after spending time suppressing their natural behaviors.
The study results suggest that when a woman is exposed to partner abuse in the two years before giving birth, including during pregnancy, the baby has a higher chance of developing autism later.
Mirroring movement is a simple play activity that involves copying someone's movements, like you're in a mirror. Mirroring movement activities help children with disability, autism or other additional needs improve their physical coordination and gross motor skills.
Stimming – or self-stimulatory behaviour – is repetitive or unusual body movement or noises. Stimming might include: hand and finger mannerisms – for example, finger-flicking and hand-flapping.
There are three major areas of undiagnosed autism in adults. Those include social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive or ritualistic behaviors.
The importance of the amygdala in autism and anxiety
The amygdala is a small, almond-shaped structure in the brain. It plays a key role in processing emotion, particularly fear, and studies have linked it to both autism and anxiety.
In 348 epidemiologically ascertained toddler twins, we explored associations between autistic traits and three robust, highly heritable predictors of familial autism recurrence: variation in attention, motor coordination, and parental autistic trait burden.
Children with autism experience anger rumination due to a maladaptive form of emotion processing. This part of their brain focuses on the stressor, causing repetitive and passive thinking about shortcomings, regrets, distress, and mistakes from the past. Anger rumination can have an impact on children with autism.
Risks of Stimming
Instead of reacting negatively to stimming behavior, people can choose to redirect their attention to something else or acknowledge it with acceptance. Self-harm. Some stims are harmful. Head banging, hair pulling, and biting nails may have health consequences.
Stimming is a way for individuals with ASD to regulate their sensory input and cope with the overwhelming sensory environment around them. Vocal stimming can take many forms, such as humming, singing, making animal sounds, repeating words or phrases, and more.
Triggers can include sights, sounds, smells, or thoughts that remind you of the traumatic event in some way. Some PTSD triggers are obvious, such as seeing a news report of an assault. Others are less clear. For example, if you were attacked on a sunny day, seeing a bright blue sky might make you upset.