Workshop Description

NOTE: FREE CE for NASW-NY Members. In honor of Autism Awareness Month.

Individuals with autism have an increased tendency to experience trauma and post-traumatic disorder compared with the general population. Dealing with trauma and its effects can be multi-faceted and devastating for those who have experienced a traumatic event or circumstance. For those with autism, experiences with trauma may be different, and processing and treating trauma may also require an added layer of specialized support. This training will discuss trauma experiences, as well as trauma expressions and responses among individuals with autism. Best practices and implications for practice to support individuals with autism who have experienced trauma and other co-occurring mental health conditions will be discussed.

CE Program recruited and planned by NASW-NY CE Taskforce, Mezzo Subgroup.

Learning Objectives

After completing this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Develop an awareness of the prevalence of trauma as experienced by individuals with autism. 
• Articulate reasons for increased trauma experiences among individuals with autism.
• Summarize strategies to support individuals with autism who have experienced trauma.
• Describe techniques to support autistic individuals with co-occurring mental health conditions and histories of trauma.

Continuing Education Credits: 3.0

This workshop is approved for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychologists.

Fees

• $0.00 - NASW-NY Member

• $75.00 - Other Chapter Members (e.g., NASW-NJ, etc.)

• $90.00 - Non-Member

• $0.00 - NASW-NY Student and Transitional Member (Non-CE Eligible)

Presenter: Christina Marsack-Topolewski, LMSW, PhD

Christina Marsack-Topolewski, LMSW, PhD is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Michigan and an Associate Professor of Social Work at Eastern Michigan University. Her educational backgrounds are in Special Education, Social Work, and Gerontology. She has 20 years of experience supporting individuals with disabilities and their family caregivers. Dr. Marsack-Topolewski has published over 90 scholarly articles and encyclopedia entries on disability, family caregiving, dementia, and aging. She is an appointed board member of the U.S. National Task Group (NTG) on Intellectual Disability and Dementia Practices. Her research has been featured on National Public Radio (NPR) and ABC News Detroit, and she also has provided expert testimony advocating for legal provisions to protect vulnerable populations-- the first of these was signed into law in Michigan in 2023. In 2024, she received the Ronald W. Collins Distinguished Research Award for Research Excellence and the Arc of Oakland County’s Advocacy Hall of Fame Award.

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