Recommendations Provided to Families of Neurodivergent Children with Histories of Interpersonal Trauma across Two Clinical Assessment Services within a Major Metropolitan Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia.

Abstract

Despite substantial evidence to suggest that neurodivergent children are particularly vulnerable to experiencing interpersonal trauma, evidence-based therapeutic guidelines for this group of children are lacking and best practice parameters have yet to be established. This study aimed to synthesise and describe recommendations provided by two specialist clinical assessment services within a major metropolitan children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia, to families of children diagnosed with autism and/or an intellectual disability who have experienced interpersonal trauma. Twenty-six assessment reports written between 2021-2022 containing such recommendations were analysed. While less than half of the reports (43%) provided recommendations intended to directly support the child's experience of interpersonal trauma, the majority (88%) provided 'indirect' recommendations that addressed other treatment targets known to benefit neurotypical children, or neurodivergent children without a history of trauma. Overall, these results shed light on the limited evidence-based strategies clinicians can reliably draw upon when working with this vulnerable population and reinforce the importance of developing empirically supported trauma interventions that are appropriate for neurodivergent children.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40653-024-00684-9.