Medical experts are increasingly realizing that early childhood trauma stunts brain development and leaves kids at risk for lifelong health and behavioral problems.
That was one of the major takeaways from the 25th annual Forum on Child Abuse and Neglect held Friday at Indiana University Northwest.
"When most people think about child abuse, they probably imagine broken bones or injuries. They might think about emotional abuse and neglect," said keynote speaker Sandra Alexander, an expert in child maltreatment for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "But what they probably don't also think about is chronic disease, difficulty learning in school, possibly not being able to enter the workforce ready or having problems in the workforce."
Those are just a few of the risk factors of adverse childhood experiences, Alexander and other experts acknowledged Friday. And they said it's going to take a strong commitment from policymakers, business leaders and social-work agencies to improve early-childhood outcomes in this country.
Alexander said stable, nurturing relationships and environments set children, starting at birth, on a path to success. So-called toxic stress has been found to change the chemical makeup of the growing brain, increasing its "fight-or-flight" response.
[For more of this story, written by Giles Bruce, go to http://www.nwitimes.com/news/l...95-5dce3db3c7fd.html]
Comments (0)