PACEs Science

By Laura Gallant, 3/10/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ Today, Thursday March 10, is the fourth day in our Week of HOPE. This week is intended to spread awareness of HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences TM and help people learn about the difference that positive childhood experiences can make for children, families, and those who serve them. Today’s theme is HOPE Family Day. HOPE aims to shift the model of care to a more collaborative and family-led framework.

By Laura Gallant, 3/7/22, https://positiveexperience.org/category/blog/ Today Monday, March 7, is the first day of the Week of HOPE. This week is intended to spread awareness of HOPE – Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences TM and help people learn about the difference that positive childhood experiences can make for children, families, and those who serve them. We are excited to be celebrating the Week of HOPE across the country. We are especially grateful to Vicky Roper, director of...

From Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University, February 2022 These days, resilience is needed more than ever, and one simple, underrecognized way of supporting healthy and resilient child development is as old as humanity itself: play. Far from frivolous, play contributes to sturdy brain architecture, the foundations of lifelong health, and the building blocks of resilience, yet its importance is often overlooked. In this podcast, Dr. Jack Shonkoff explains the role of play in...

We did a massive overhaul of our Resource Center . Why it matters : You can find articles, research, reports about PACEs science, practice and policy MUCH more easily. Why we did it : The structure of the old Resource Center wasn't working very well, the content was out-of-date, and useful information was difficult to find. How we did it: With the old Resource Center, we were pretty much trying to fit a square peg into a round hole—we adapted a community page on our social network platform...

By Pam Jarvis, Photo: Runar Pederson Holkestad/Creative Commons, Yorkshire Bylines, January 30, 2022 As time goes by we see more and more initiatives funnelled into education to ‘close the gap’ between children who live in families with incomes that place them into the ‘disadvantaged’ category. Yet again and again we find that very modest returns leave politicians disappointed. Instead, we should be looking at the environments that children inhabit before they even enter the school gates.

By Emily Henderson, Photo: Unsplash, Medical News, January 19, 2021 Researchers know that experiencing a high number of adverse events in childhood correlates with worse health outcomes in adulthood. These studies have led to an emphasis on trauma-informed practice in schools and workplaces in an attempt to mitigate the harm of early adversity. At the other end of the spectrum, focusing on wellness, Darcia Narvaez, emerita professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, has helped...

December 31, 2021 – Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows , a provocative new picture book by Jamaican poet and Chevening Scholar Juleus Ghunta, has been released today by CaribbeanReads, a St. Kitts-based publishing company. The book follows the title character, Rohan Bullkin on his journey from reluctant to enthusiastic reader. Rohan’s reluctance to read is fuelled by Shadows – manifestations of his adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress. He improves his literacy with the guidance...

By Alison Gopnik, Illustration: Jared Briggs/The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2021 The great Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget used to talk about “the American question.” In the course of his long career, he lectured around the world, explaining how children’s minds develop as they get older. When he visited the U.S., someone in the audience was sure to ask, “But Prof. Piaget, how can we get them to do it faster?” Today it’s no longer just impatient Americans who...

New Study: Evolved Nest Experience In Childhood Buffers The Negative Effects Of ACEs

By Raymond Tran, Art by Angela Liang, November 14, 2021 Intergenerational trauma , which can also be referred to as trans- or multigenerational trauma, is defined as “trauma that gets passed down from those who directly experience an incident to subsequent generations.” Intergenerational trauma may begin with a traumatic event affecting an individual or traumatic events affecting larger groups of people, from families to racial groups. Left alone, this cycle of trauma continues. In order to...

Review of Rohan Bullkin and the Shadows by Jessica King Childhood can be brutal. Some of the authors I admire most have been able to reflect on difficult childhood trauma and create art, holding those experiences up to the light and processing them. In children’s literature, these personal, heartfelt #OwnVoices works tell a difficult story with truth and compassion. Books like this form a vital “mirror” for children in similar circumstances. I received an advance copy of Rohan Bullkin and...

By Katie Schoenhoff and David Jordan, Kansas Reflector, November 9, 2021 A child’s earliest years have a lifelong impact. Nearly 80% of brain development occurs by age 3. Having a healthy start affects health, educational attainment and earnings throughout a person’s life. Toxic stress and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) also have a major influence on a child’s overall development, affecting school readiness, student success, physical and mental health, and other factors, including the...