'. . . there's so much within the work that we do where all we kind of need is the space and the safety': The experiences of Australian practitioners who support autistic survivors of sexual and domestic violence.
Jessica Fox, Julie-Anne Carroll, Jodi Death
PMID 40413577WHAT IT FOUND
Practitioners supporting autistic survivors of violence emphasised that safety comes from adapting therapy to neurodivergent processing needs.
They prioritised explicit communication, sensory accommodations, and validating experiences over standard trauma protocols, which often fail when clients struggle to identify internal states.
Key findings
01Participants identified that autistic survivors often struggle to recognise abusive behaviour due to difficulties with interoception and alexithymia, requiring practitioners to explicitly label emotions and bodily sensations to help clients process trauma.
02A neurodiversity-affirming approach involved adapting the environment and communication style, such as allowing 'infodumping', making implicit social rules explicit, and providing practical support with forms and calls, rather than focusing solely on psychological processing.
03Practitioners reported that systemic barriers, including invalidating attitudes in other services and socioeconomic disadvantage, frequently disrupted recovery and caused retraumatisation, requiring therapy sessions to focus on repairing these harms.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only captured the perspectives of practitioners, not the autistic survivors themselves. Participants were limited to those who had already accessed therapeutic support, so the findings do not reflect the experiences of those who have not engaged with services. The sample was small (N=14) and specific to the Australian context, limiting generalisability. Socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity were not recorded, limiting the ability to analyse how these factors influence practice.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that specific therapeutic techniques (like EMDR adaptations) improve clinical outcomes. The study reports practitioner perceptions of what they do and why they do it, not patient results.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →