TRAUMA, AUTISM, AND NEURODEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS. INTEGRATING RESEARCH, PRACTICE, AND POLICY

1. Introduction
2. Tangled Roots and Ramifications: The Early Histories of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Reactive Attachment Disorder
3. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: From Neurobiology to Cycles of Violence
4. Trauma and Neurodevelopmental Disorder: Assessment, Treatment, and Triage
5. The Challenge and Importance of Differentiating Trauma and Stress-Related Disorders from Autism Spectrum Disorders
6. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Diagnostic Considerations for Children with a History of Trauma
7. Interventions for Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders in Preschool-Aged Children
8. Reactive Attachment Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis and Care in a Cultural Context
9. Special Population Consideration in ASD Identification and Treatment
10. Challenges with Transition to Adulthood
11. Trauma and Neurodevelopmental Disorders from a Public Health Perspective
12. From the Outside In: Using a Whole-School Paradigm to Improve the Educational Success of Students with Trauma Histories and/or Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
13. Assessment and Recommendations

This book examines the diagnostic overlap and frequent confusion between the newly named DSM-5 diagnostic categories of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), which include autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and trauma and stressor related disorders (TSRDs). These conditions are similar in that a) children with developmental disorders are particularly vulnerable to traumatic events and b) all have pervasive effects on the brain and development. Chapters provide a wealth of effective clinical, family, and school-based interventions, developed from established studies and important new findings. In addition, chapters use illustrative case studies to survey assessment challenges in today’s healthcare climate and consider alternative routes for improving correct diagnoses, identifying appropriate interventions, and referring proper targeted, evidence-based treatment and services. The book concludes with the editors’ recommendations for needs-based service access, including a more widespread use and acceptance of the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework.

Topics featured in this book include:
• The neurobiological contributors to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) and its diagnosis in children with a history of trauma.
• Interventions for trauma and stressor-related disorders in preschool-aged children.
• Reactive attachment disorder (RAD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis and care in a cultural context.
• Special population consideration in ASD identification and treatment.
• Challenges associated with the transition to adulthood.
• Trauma and neurodevelopmental disorders from a public health perspective.

Trauma, Autism, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and related professionals, and graduate students in developmental psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, public health, social work, pediatrics, and special education.

Features
• Synthesizes research on traumatic stress disorders, neurodevelopmental disorders, and the shortage of mental health services in the U.S.
• Applies rigorous scholarship in trauma and neurodevelopment research to a practical public health problem
• Provides guidelines for differential diagnosis of posttraumatic stress and neurodevelopmental disorder
• Addresses the cross-cultural difference in phenomenology and acceptance of ASD and TSRD