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Autism vs. Trauma: 5 Key Differences

Auticate with Chris & Debby

1,544,163 views

Why do autism and trauma seem to have so much in common, especially in strong reactions to certain environments? How are autism and trauma different? In this video, we'll take a peek at 5 key differences between autistic brains and those that have experienced trauma or C-PTSD. You'll see why it might look similar on the outside, but the key differences can help you know how to better understand autism vs. trauma.

START HERE: 🎁 Get the Free Roadmap
Just learning you're autistic? This guide can help you get started understanding more about yourself and your autistic brain.
Link: https://bit.ly/4v8ZO3D

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🚨RESOURCES & RECOMMENDATIONS
Clothing 👕
• Did you notice Chris' cool Overthinking shirt? (Not the whole brain suit! 😅) Shop our sensory-friendly clothing, designed by and for neurodivergent brains:
👉 https://auticatethreads.dashery.com/

Books 📚
• Autistic Survival Guide to Therapy (Steph Jones): https://amzn.to/3v3Axyr
-- NOTE: This is about SO much more than therapy!! Highly recommend for anyone who is autistic or wants to learn more about how it feels to be AuDHD

Bedding 🛏️
• Bearaby (weighted blankets):
Chris loves this blanket because it doesn't make noise like the bead-filled ones do. And it's super cuddly! Great comfort for both autistics and trauma survivors.
🧸 https://bearaby-us.pxf.io/3kA2Ky

PS: Purchasing through these links may give us an affiliate kickback (at no additional cost to you) and help us continue to make awesome content. Thanks for your support!

IN THIS VIDEO, YOU’LL LEARN:
• Why reactions look similar in autistics and trauma survivors.
• How the processes in autistic brains and the brains of trauma survivors differ.
• Ways to tell if a person is reacting due to sensory sensitivities or trauma triggers.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Autism and Trauma Can Look Similar, but They're Very Different
00:28 5 Key Differences Between Autism and Trauma
00:58 #1 Socializing: Natural Differences vs. Learned Fear
03:15 #2 Sensory Experience Processing vs. Trauma Triggering
05:04 #3 Routines: Predictability vs. Avoiding Danger
06:46 #4 Communication: Preferred Style vs. Emotional Reaction
10:05 #5 Lifelong Pattern vs. Something that Started Later
11:42 One of the Most Important Questions to Ask

❗️NOTE: No video (or YouTuber through a video) can diagnose you with autism. Videos on our channel are meant purely for educational understanding and support of neurodivergent minds.

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👇 Comment below — what part of this video hit hardest? #auticate #trauma #actuallyautistic #autismsupport #autismawareness

20 Comments

@Feralsquirrel 1 month ago

In abusive households, trauma starts very early.

@annarouse3466 1 month ago

it gets even blurrier when your trauma starts in infancy and autism runs in the family....

@GODLIKEKEVINATOR 1 month ago

Being autistic is traumatic

@dr.colemansnatureadventures00 4 months ago

Childhood trauma can also cause actual brain differences.

@bittervaccine 4 months ago

The scary part is when you realize: you don’t even know which behaviors are you…and which ones were built from pain.

@upup_and_away 13 days ago

I just want to acknowledge everyone in the comments here. We're all in this together

@Frodeobaggins 2 months ago

I am so tired. I am an autistic person with cptsd. People tell me I’m not autistic, faking the trauma or vice versa.
I’m so tired of being diagnosed by people. Professional or not. I went to school to learn my own issues. And self advocate.
I left, but what I learned helped me understand myself.

@hhart10k 4 months ago

Very early trauma can also be a neurodevelopmental problem as it interferes with neurological development during critical periods and can tend to have global (not necessarily tied to specific traumas but to the impact on development as a whole) and lifelong consequences.

@Rosiecalico2021 1 month ago

This video made me realize I’m a whole mess and I’m just gonna wrap myself in a blanket like a burrito

@llareia 4 months ago

I'm glad you touched on autism + trauma, but another category that can make it difficult to distinguish the difference is childhood trauma. Growing up in a neglectful or abusive environment can make someone say "I don't know, I guess I've always been like this," simply because they can't remember a time when they weren't traumatized.

@user-lt4re8be6x 4 months ago

Autistic people are almost always traumatised because of not being understood, not fitting in a group, criticised/ridiculed more often, and living a lonely life with the feeling of rejection.

@silviafrancess 2 months ago

Yeah I have CPTSD and many people, usually autistic people, assume I have autism. I’m highly perceptive to social cues and underlying meaning. I only mask to mask my affect, meaning I try to hide if I’m feeling depressed or having a flashback. However, since recovery I also realized idgaf about indirect communication and playing games and stopped trying to read people’s minds, as that’s unhealthy. What many call “neurotypical communication” is just centering the needs of the most difficult person and is really unhealthy.

@raven4090 4 months ago

AuDHD, CPTSD from my family and school life, and PTSD. Finally got a trauma informed counselor who is familiar with ND, and am healing. My life began at 60. 🌞

@RedSparklyBoots 4 months ago

I definitely have both. Some of my earliest memories involve sensory issues (my burning hatred of hats started before I was a year old), and as a third grader I was convinced I was an actual alien. Not only do I have trauma from my unpleasant family (understatement), but I also have trauma from growing up autistic in the 80s. Other girls hated me on sight, teachers thought I was rude because I spoke to them like another adult instead of a cute little girl, and my family labeled a lot of my autistic behaviors as "spoiled" or "a brat" or "a picky eater" because nobody was talking about autism back then, and the only reference we had was Rain Man.

As much as I love a lot of the media and clothing and culture of the 80s, it was NOT a good time to be autistic or a girl... or an autistic, not-so-feminine girl. I still have nightmares about the itchy, scratchy dresses I was stuffed into. It felt like wearing barbed wire. Sometimes I imagine they're lurking in my closet, waiting for the right moment to pounce on me. Like lacy, frilly demons. (OK, maybe I'm kidding about the last part, but the mental image made me laugh.)

@ADHD_PLUS 4 months ago

I missed all the signs of AuDHD because of all the trauma. I was really confused because I had worked through the trauma but then had a major shutdown that I couldn't attribute to anything. If only I had known about AuDHD years ago 😢

@oceancat0450 1 month ago

I haven’t been in a public place like a grocery store or restaurant in 7 years. Because when I’m in a public place, I hear every fork hitting the plate, I hear every conversation going on around me, I hear every door shutting, screaming kids, I cannot focus on the person I’m sitting across from, at the table. The only time I will go in a place is if it’s like a CVS, and I’ve ordered online, I’ll run into the counter to grab it. But ONLY if I have my earbuds in. My life and world has become so small.
I really needed to see this video. Because either way, we feel misunderstood.

@towzone 4 months ago

I've worked my entire life to overcome very early childhood trauma and extreme social anxiety, only realizing at 52 that I was ALSO autistic and my goals of being "normal" were not possible. My life has been so much better since my self identification! I now know I was in a different ballpark trying to play the same game as everyone else.

@cadoho 4 months ago

I think this video mixes up PTSD and cPTSD.
When people question whether the symptoms are autism or trauma, they usually mean cPTSD. Since PTSD has a significant traumatic event that sets it off, it is easy enough to distinguish.
But some things referenced for trauma in the video are more like PTSD than cPTSD.
A lot of people with cPTSD are generally overstimulated because of the hyperarrousel. So for them, it is also not just about certain triggering noises, but about all sensory input as well.
And for a lot of people, the trauma leading to cPTSD starts so young that they also don't have a before and after. Influencing the core person/ personality even is a big separator between PTSD and cPTSD.
So, in my eyes, the video tries to compare autism to PTSD, which is mostly easily distinguishable and not to cPTSD, which is the trauma usually in question.

@safirinha5582 2 weeks ago

8:48 artist here: it doesn't matter if you love what's in the picture or not, what matters is if the person who drew it was able to portray what they were thinking about accurately. if you said it looked like an ugly person, that would hurt less then saying it looked like something that ISN'T a person