In his practice, he specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of adult and child victims of sexual abuse. He further testified he had been qualified more than a hundred times as an expert witness in Kansas courts in the area of PTSD in children. During these sessions, D.W. had described the same incidents involving sexual abuse that the child had told his mother and other professionals involved. Boniello was asked, without objection, to tell the jury what PTSD is. He stated that PTSD is a collection of symptoms seen in people who have been subject to a traumatic event.
Children can exhibit several symptoms.
One is a regressed pattern of behavior. Another is repeating the behavior or having dreams or nightmares about the situation. Symptoms of PTSD would arise in children as the result of a severe traumatic event which would have to be rather major, such as a separation between parents, sexual abuse, having one's home destroyed by fire, or witnessing a sibling being seriously injured. PTSD is generally recognized throughout the United States in Boniello's field of study. He responded that he had.