Theresa Andrzejewski

Theresa Andrzejewski

Doctoral Candidate, Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming/ Doctoral Intern, Primary Children’s Hospital Outpatient Behavioral Health

University of Wyoming, Primary Children’s Hospital

[email protected]

Lessons Learned

• Youth with disabilities experience high rates of traumatic events, particularly events of a social or interpersonal nature which may include maltreatment-related experiences. Existing assessment and intervention tools that screen for traumatic events may not be expansive enough to capture the broad range of social events that youth with disabilities experience and consider to be traumatic (e.g., bullying, disability-focused discrimination/mistreatment). This then creates issues in identifying trauma and trauma-related stress symptoms, and in guiding interventions and supports for trauma-related symptoms.
• Youth with disabilities and their families are subject to higher rates of intergenerational trauma, meaning that parents who experience maltreatment are more likely to have children who will experience maltreatment. This underscores the importance of holistic support for families, including support for parents or other family members in addition to support for youth who experience maltreatment.
• Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TF-CBT) is a flexible intervention that has begun to show support for intervening successfully among families of youth with disabilities (e.g., reduces levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms). Additional research should seek to further modify TF-CBT as needed, in addition to modifying or developing other therapeutic interventions to prevent maltreatment, support youth with disabilities and their families, and foster resilience among youth with disabilities.

Resources Developed

• Research article published in 2023 (Andrzejewski et al., 2023): Adverse childhood experiences in autistic children and their caregivers: Examining intergenerational continuity https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35412212/
• Research article published in 2022 (McDonnell et al., 2022): Intergenerational trauma: Parental PTSD and parent-reported child abuse subtypes differentially relate to admission characteristics in the autism inpatient collection https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/aur.2669?casa_token=i89Onx1CRj0AAAAA%3ApRCgXFT4hZFbSjtptaLWW7kA4YXwArCFniCZlMdhVCW37NRevLbDeZ_fPcXLiy5CUKvoPyFDFJ7LRA
• Research article published in 2025 (McDonnell et al., 2025): A pilot proof-of-concept study of telehealth-based trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy for autistic youth: Initial evidence of efficacy and acceptability https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10775595251323215?casa_to…

Suggested Resources

• Training resources from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), such as this one about children with intellectual and developmental disabilities who have experienced trauma - https://www.nctsn.org/resources/children-with-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities-who-have-experienced-trauma
• Personal safety resources from AMAZE, including resources for identifying and understanding past sexual abuse and various forms of sexual and other interpersonal abuse. These are not specific to youth with disabilities, but the materials incorporate visuals that make them appealing for use with youth with disabilities - https://amaze.org/us/?topic=personal-safety
• The Autistic Guide to Healthy Relationships, developed by autistic researchers for autistic people. This is not particularly youth-focused, but I often reference this and adapt it for youth as needed - https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/neurodiversity-development/impact-and-engagement/healthy-relationships-for-autistic-people/ 

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Measurement - Testing and possibly modifying existing measurement tools (such as screening measures, symptom inventories, or clinical interviews) to capture a broader range of traumatic events that are more frequently or uniquely experienced among youth with disabilities
• Implementation and dissemination – Creating and sharing materials for the training of clinicians, educators, or community members to increase the identification, understanding, and support of child maltreatment among families and professionals
• Support and resilience – Better understanding and developing tailored approaches to supporting youth with disabilities who have experienced maltreatment, including understanding and promoting protective factors that may help to foster resilience among families of youth with disabilities