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Needs first. Plain English. Trauma aware.

Trauma questionnaire — thinking tool

⚠️ This is a thinking tool — NOT a diagnostic tool
Nothing is saved, sent, or stored. This will not give you a diagnosis. It uses questions adapted from NHS-standard tools (ACEs, PCL-5) to help you identify patterns and decide on next steps. Always seek professional assessment for clinical decisions.

Answer about yourself, your child, or the person you're thinking about. Use your best knowledge — there are no wrong answers. At the end you'll get a summary pointing you toward the most helpful next steps.

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If there are current safeguarding concerns or immediate risk, please seek urgent help now.
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Start questionnaire Back to pathways map

Part 1: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

These 10 questions are from the NHS-standard ACEs questionnaire. They ask about experiences before age 18. If answering about your child, answer based on what you know of their experiences.

About ACEs
Adverse Childhood Experiences are well-researched events that can affect how the brain develops and responds to stress. Higher scores help explain patterns and guide support — they don't predict everything and they are not your fault.

0 of 10 answered

Did a parent or adult in the home often swear at, insult, humiliate, or put down the person? Or act in a way that made them afraid they might be physically hurt?

Did a parent or adult in the home often push, grab, slap, or throw something at the person? Or ever hit them so hard that they had marks or were injured?

Did an adult or person at least 5 years older ever touch or fondle them in a sexual way, or try to have sexual contact with them?

Did they often feel that no one in their family loved them or thought they were important or special? Or that their family didn't look out for each other or feel close to each other?

Did they often feel that they didn't have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, or had no one to protect them? Or were their parents too drunk or high to take care of them?

Was a biological parent ever lost through divorce, abandonment, or other reason?

Was their mother (or stepmother) often pushed, grabbed, slapped, or had something thrown at her? Or sometimes or often kicked, bitten, hit with a fist, or threatened with a weapon?

Did they live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, or who used street drugs?

Was a household member depressed or mentally ill, or did a household member attempt suicide?

Did a household member go to prison?

Part 2: Current responses and reactions

These questions look at how the person responds now. They are adapted from the PCL-5, a validated NHS trauma screening tool. Rate how much each has been a problem in the past month.

0 of 8 answered

Repeated, disturbing, or unwanted memories of a stressful experience

Feeling very upset when something reminded them of a stressful experience

Avoiding thoughts, feelings, or reminders of a stressful experience

Feeling distant or cut off from other people

Being "super alert", watchful, or on guard when there's no obvious reason to be

Feeling jumpy or easily startled

Having strong negative feelings such as fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame that won't go away

Blaming themselves or someone else for a stressful experience or what happened afterwards

Part 3: Lifelong patterns

These questions look at patterns that may suggest neurodevelopmental differences (autism, ADHD, etc). These are informal indicators — not a diagnostic checklist.

0 of 10 answered

Have these patterns been present since early childhood — not linked to any specific event?

Do the difficulties appear consistently across different environments (home, school, community) — not just in one place?

Are there strong sensory sensitivities — to sound, light, texture, smell, or taste?

Are there significant difficulties with social communication — reading social cues, understanding unspoken rules, or maintaining friendships?

Are there difficulties with executive function — planning, organising, starting tasks, managing time, or switching between activities?

Is there a strong need for routine and predictability, with significant distress when routines change?

Are there intense, focused interests that go far beyond what is typical for age?

Has the person always found it hard to regulate attention — either hyperfocusing on preferred things or unable to sustain attention on non-preferred tasks?

Do other family members (parents, siblings, grandparents) have similar patterns or a diagnosis of autism or ADHD?

Do the difficulties remain even during periods of calm and safety — not just during stress?

Part 4: Context

Three final questions to sharpen the picture.

0 of 3 answered

Did difficulties clearly worsen or start after a specific event or period (e.g. bereavement, school change, family breakdown, abuse, illness)?

Does the person's ability to regulate and cope vary significantly depending on how safe and calm their environment is?

Has a professional ever suggested either trauma/PTSD or autism/ADHD as a possibility?

Nothing is saved or sent. Results appear on this page only.

Your results

Remember: this is a thinking tool, not a diagnosis. Use this to guide your next steps and conversations with professionals.

What this doesn't tell you
A high trauma score doesn't mean someone has PTSD. A high neurodivergent score doesn't mean someone has autism or ADHD. This tool helps you identify patterns and choose next steps — it cannot replace a proper clinical assessment.
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