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Earlywood Special Edition 2016-17
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When Looking Away Doesn't Work Anymore
Posted by Nikki Rankin on 3/17/2017 7:00:00 AM
I try to think of trauma as something far away. Something that happens in large cities, dark corners, on the news, not here. For me, the hard part of learning about trauma is accepting that it happens. It happens close to us, it happens to us. I would much rather just close my eyes and pretend it is not there. But it is here and now there is research that shows it is more common than we thought. “A whopping two thirds of the 17,000 people in the ACE Study had an ACE score of at least one — 87 percent of those had more than one. Eighteen states have done their own ACE surveys; their results are similar to the CDC’s ACE Study.” (ACEs too High)
What is ACEs? If you have not heard of the Adverse Childhood Experiences consider this a very brief introduction to something that will change the way you look at people. ACEs are ten questions that measure exposure to trauma as a child. “Five are personal — physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Five are related to other family members- a parent who’s an alcoholic, a mother who’s a victim of domestic violence, a family member in jail, a family member diagnosed with a mental illness, and the disappearance of a parent through divorce, death or abandonment. Each type of trauma counts as one.” (ACEs too High)
Vincent Felitti, MD, is the Co-founder of the ACE study and provides an indepth look into the study in an hour long interview put on by PESI. It is well worth the time if you are interested. Dr. Felitti along with Kaiser Permanente and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (C.Y.W.) discovered that high ACE numbers relate to risk of many concerns such as, alcoholism, drug use, STDs, smoking, (CDC) along with a long list of health issues. “ With an ACE score of 4 or more, things start getting serious. The likelihood of chronic pulmonary lung disease increases 390 percent; hepatitis, 240 percent; depression 460 percent; suicide, 1,220 percent.” (ACEs too High)
The Center for Youth Wellness is a groundbreaking group that is focusing on changing outcomes for kids and have many ideas and resources to share. Through her work Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, CEO San Francisco ACEs study, has taken Dr. Felitti’s work and transformed it into direct change for children. Her Ted Talk, “How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime”, will change the way you think. It is too important not to learn about, too important to look away and ignore. If you are not ready to delve into the world of ACEs consider this article instead, “10 Things About Childhood Trauma Every Teacher Needs to Know” a simple, easy read, with things you can easily do to improve the lives of children.
Here are the highlights, but the articles has a lot more to say:
- Kids who have experienced trauma aren’t trying to push your buttons.
- Kids who have been through trauma worry about what’s going to happen next.
- Even if the situation doesn’t seem that bad to you, it’s how the child feels that matters.
- Trauma isn’t always associated with violence.
- You don’t need to know exactly what caused the trauma to be able to help.
- Kids who experience trauma need to feel they’re good at something and can influence the world.
- There’s a direct connection between stress and learning.
- Self-regulation can be a major challenge for students suffering from trauma.
- It’s OK to ask kids point-blank what you can do to help them make it through the day.
- You can support kids with trauma even when they’re outside your classroom.
Stephanie Lawless, Assistant Director
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