Kaitlyn Ahlers

Kaitlyn Ahlers

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Department of Psychiatry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Dartmouth Health

[email protected]
 

Lessons Learned

• Children with disabilities experience a broader range of potentially traumatic events and trauma-related symptoms. Thus, we need measurement tools that capture the unique experiences of children with disabilities. Providers also benefit from increased support and training in screening and assessing for traumatic events in children with disabilities.
• Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is a promising evidence-based mental health intervention for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including autistic youth, though it requires modification to the unique needs and characteristics of children with disabilities. It is essential to provide training and support to mental health providers to increase access to TF-CBT and other evidence-based mental health interventions for children with disabilities.
• Community mental health professionals often are highly motivated to provide mental health services to children with disabilities but there are many barriers both at the provider (e.g., knowledge, self-efficacy) and organizational (e.g., available resources, access to knowledge/training, protected time) levels that are important to address to increase access to trauma-focused EBPs in these settings.

Resources Developed

• Access to Trauma-Informed Treatment and Assessment for Neurodivergent Youth (Project ATTAIN): https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/psychiatry/project-attain 
• Considering trauma in autism diagnostic evaluations in children: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11432/ 
• NIH-funded Pilot Study of TF-CBT for Autistic Youth: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07420478 

Suggested Resources

• Project ATTAIN trainings: https://www.dartmouth-hitchcock.org/psychiatry/project-attain-resources 
• Training resources and materials (e.g., Fact Sheets) from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), such as https://www.nctsn.org/resources/children-with-intellectual-and-developm… and https://www.nctsn.org/resources/the-impact-of-trauma-on-youth-with-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities-a-fact-sheet-for-providers
• “Tailoring Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Youth with Developmental Disabilities (TF-CBT IDD) and Their Caregivers” via the STYDD Center: https://tfcbt.org/idd-implementation-guide/ 

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Modification of trauma-focused evidence-based interventions for youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), specifically autistic youth, via community-partnered research approaches.
• Leveraging implementation science to increase access to trauma-focused evidence-based practices for youth with IDD in community settings.
• Development and validation of trauma-related and other mental health symptom measures that are appropriately tailored to the experiences of people with IDD.