The research Dr. Felitti has done is worthwhile and as you say Greg, done without judgment and with empathy. But his research is not in question here. His research is not the same as what teachers and school personnel think of as "screenings". When teachers talk about screenings, they mean basically "tests" used to gather things like ability and cognitive levels of incoming kindergarteners to determine if children have deficiencies. I think Dr. Felitti would strongly agree that we do not want to have "screenings" of this type (called a deficit model) with children with trauma. Having been an educator for many years, I know all too well that if educators without trauma training start "screening" for ACES, we are on a slippery slope because they are used to looking for "deficits" in a child's skills. For me - I think you and I actually agree. The screening isn't the problem. It's the question of those school personnel doing the screenings "are done well, without judgment, with empathy, acknowledging that an individual is normal, worthy, and not alone" Unfortunately I have seen in my experience the lack of training, in less critical areas than trauma, have a detrimental effect on the effectiveness of an intervention. This has happened where the district has not funded training to go with a screening product and so educators have to do the best they can with limited understanding. So before schools start screening any children, all should understand Dr. Felitti's work and be trained to understand that ACES data does not fit the standard practices model with "screenings".
And by the way - I thank you for your willingness to partake in this discussion. Nothing wrong with disagreement - as long as we are still willing to be part of the discussion. I also applaud what you do - tough work. Thanks for contributing.