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A Qualitative Analysis Of Treatment Providers’ Understanding And Assessment Of Trauma And Autism, Leah Hanson

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are particularly vulnerable to traumatic experiences and further development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Underlying traumatic stress is commonly missed and remained untreated in the autism population. In a previous pilot study, Hanson and Richards (2021) gathered providers’ understandings on trauma and autism The current study is a further, systemic content analysis on archival data from Hanson and Richard’s pilot study. Results from the current content analysis of the responses to Question 1 (How do you assess for trauma in your patients?) revealed that providers assess patients’ trauma primarily by interviewing caregiver and patients, …