IMO the OP's intuition is sound, and a smaller steel framed revolver in .38sp would be great. Even Colts.
.38sp comes loaded from very mild to 9mm+p like, can be easy to shoot and learn with.
If relying on a .22 for protection, I'd never go with a .22 auto, much less a small one for somebody not overly inclined to master the mechanicals. I still frequently encounter duds in rimfire, and especially small .22s often don't have an extractor. A small revolver with 8-9 shot capacity makes better sense. Small .22 revolvers will sometimes have a stiffer DA trigger, but that can be overcome with practice, technique and worst case, springs.