Whimsical September

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Rewriting the Future for Children with ACEs: What You Should Know

On a list of traits that describe me, “relational” and “tender-hearted” are two terms that are about as close to the top of that list as they could be. I love my people and prioritize relationships, sometimes almost to a fault because of how tender-hearted I can be.
Personality tests have described me over and over again as someone who wants to fix everybody else’s problems, make sure everybody is happy, and do what I can to make life better for those who’ve never really had a chance.

 

But as I mentioned, this trait can also be a fault. For this reason, I rarely watch the news anymore (especially in the morning) because I just get myself all twisted up about things that make me sad or angry. I’ve learned that some days, I just have to avoid soaking in things that are going to be upsetting or frustrating. I can’t actually change everybody’s world, so I’ve learned that sometimes it’s best to just focus on my own little world and make sure that things are right for my my family. That way, I find outlets for my passion for people in other ways when the opportunities present themselves.

 

One massive (!) opportunity that presented itself a few months ago was the chance to work alongside The Center for Youth Wellness in advancing efforts in the way society responds to childhood adversity and toxic stress.

 

Those who have been around me in person the last couple of months would tell you that the term “ACEs” has come up in conversations almost daily. Deeply researching and learning about the direct correlation between adverse childhood experiences and one’s future health and functioning has been mind-blowing.

Do you know a little one who is being exposed to abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction?

Abuse: physical, emotional, or sexual

Neglect: physical or emotional

Household dysfunction: incarcerated parent, mental illness, a mother who is treated violently, substance abuse, or divorce

Each of the above situations counts as one ACE (adverse childhood experience). Some researchers are also counting the experiences of racism, poverty, homelessness, family separation and/or a father being abused as additional ACEs.) The greater number of ACEs a little one is exposed to, the greater the odds that he or she will suffer from life-altering physical and mental ramifications later.

So what can be done? What is The Center for Youth Wellness and its Stress Health initiative directly trying to do?

The want to shine a light on how toxic this type of stress is on a child and change the action plan for how to help these little ones.

Right now, The Center for Youth Wellness is working tirelessly on improving trauma screenings for children. They want pediatricians to ask about home-based environments during wellness visits just as often as they screen for vision and hearing. If red flags for ACEs come up during these visits, they want these situations to receive immediate attention via various options for helping the child and/or family.

Here what science tells us:

What if I know a little one who needs help in one or more of these areas?

This resource page on The Center for Youth Wellness website has gobs of information for who to get in touch with and how to best help a little one in your life who needs some assistance and may not even know it. You can sign up for regular newsletters from the Stress Health Initiative and the Center for Youth Wellness on this page.

I believe in this mission too! How else can I help?

You can donate to The Center for Youth Wellness on their website. If your business or organization is looking for a new charity to get behind, this may be one to present and consider!

Let’s chat!

Have you heard of toxic stress or ACEs before? Do you agree that this is something that should be part of the agenda during wellness visits? Why or why not?

This post was written by me as part of my ongoing partnership with The Center for Youth Wellness, an organization I stand behind 100%.

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