Mia Chudzik

Mia Chudzik

Doctoral Student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Special Education

[email protected]

Lessons Learned

• Trauma can occur both out of school and in school. Special education professionals need to be aware of the ways in which practices and policies they use can cause trauma or re-traumatize children with disabilities
• Trauma-informed care is not a checklist of practices, but a mindset shift towards how we view and respond to behavior and children’s needs. Additionally, trauma-informed care benefits all children, not just those who have experienced maltreatment. Therefore, it’s important to remember that we don’t have to know if trauma occurred or what the trauma was before implementing trauma-informed care with children with disabilities. 
• In order for trauma-informed care to be successful, all professionals that work with a child must be trauma-informed. Because of this, it’s important to include teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, and related service providers in research and conversations about trauma. 

Resources Developed

• https://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/understanding-trauma/
  • This is a tip sheet focused on helping early childhood professionals understand the impact of trauma and what the importance of trauma-informed care
• https://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/trauma-informed/
  • This is a tip sheet builds off of the first one by providing strategies early childhood professionals can use in their classroom to support children who have experienced trauma. From this study, we learned that these teachers have a baseline understanding of concepts related to trauma, such as the importance of supporting social-emotional development, and learned about specific areas they would like more training and support in. 
• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10538151231164898
  • This article highlights the areas of professional development related to trauma-informed care that are needed for early childhood special education teachers. 

Suggested Resources

• Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education by Alex Shevrin Venet
• SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach: https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/d7/priv/sma14-4884.pdf
• Helping Traumatized Children Learn: Creating and Advocating for Trauma-Sensitive Schools by the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Interdisciplinary research related to trauma-informed care
• Trauma-informed care in early childhood special education