An Evaluation of a Whole-School Trauma-Informed Professional Development for Staff in Autism-Specific Educational Settings

Gibbs, V., Cai, R. Y., Love, A. M., Edwards, C., & Brunzell, T. (2025). An Evaluation of a Whole-School Trauma-Informed Professional Development for Staff in Autism-Specific Educational Settings. School Mental Health, 17(3), 875-889. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-025-09775-w

Publication date: 14 Jun 2025 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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1 / 5 (20.0%)

Abstract

Abstract This research explored ways in which educators within an autism-specific multi-school education provider in Australia first learned about, and then reflected upon, the relevance of trauma-informed education to proactively support learning for cohorts of autistic students, many of whom were described as having complex unmet needs resulting from childhood trauma. The primary aims of the current study were to determine whether trauma-informed education training for professional staff in an autism-specific educational environment would lead to changes in trauma literacy and school personnel attitudes toward trauma-informed care and whether these changes would be maintained at 9-month follow-up. Additionally, the study set out to determine whether the training would improve teacher well-being. Finally, we sought to gather teacher perspectives on the impact of the training and any barriers to implementing trauma-informed practice within an autism-specific setting. Our findings indicate that a brief trauma-informed training can enhance trauma literacy and foster positive attitudes toward trauma-impacted students. While staff well-being did not change post-training, baseline well-being was already high. School personnel found the training valuable, with most reporting benefits for their practice or students, though resource constraints were noted along with some challenges implementing practices with students with intellectual disabilities. These results suggest that professional development in trauma-informed education is beneficial and underscore the importance of integrating trauma-informed education into professional development programs for both mainstream educators and those working with children with special education needs.

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Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
0 / 222 (0.0%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 0 / 7 (0.0%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 0 / 207 (0.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
7 / 222 (3.2%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 5 / 207 (2.4%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
7 / 7 (100.0%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 7 / 222 (3.2%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 5 / 5 (100.0%).
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