Adverse Childhood Experiences

How long should you disconnect from screens before bed

1 hour

Come up with 3 steps you can take to help equip yourself for dealing with ACEs

1) 2) 3)

A typical infant has 2500 nerve connections, how many does the typical 3-year-old have?

15,000

According to the ACEs study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, what percentage of people who responded to their survey reported three or more ACEs

20%

In the ACEs study, what percentage of adults were found to have experienced one or more adverse childhood experiences

66%

What is the biggest factor in building resilience for a young child

A stable and nurturing relationship with a supportive adult

What is a safety plan (ACEs)

A way to return to a state of calm

Name some things about ACEs

ACEs are common in children ages 0-18 Many generations in a family may experience ACEs Children who live in poverty are at greater risk for ACEs

What are the six life skills children need

Attachment, belonging, adaptability, collaboration, contribution, and self-regulation

What are some ways that you can help nurture resilience

Be the one stable caring relationship between a child and adult Build a sense of mastery over life's circumstances Develop strong executive functions and self-regulation Affirm faith or cultural traditions

What are three factors to developing resilience

Building sense of self-efficacy and perceived control, providing opportunities to strengthen adaptive skills and self-regulatory capacities, and mobilizing sources of faith, hope and culture

What is a recommended way to increase classroom routine and structure and help support positive interactions?

Create a consistent signal to respond to transitions

What are some key factors to secondary trauma

Diminished joy and satisfaction in personal accomplishments or activities, physical pain or illness, irritability, frequent anger, easily startled, eating too much or too little, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, eating too much or too little, problems in relationships, difficulty making decisions and or blaming others, and feeling hopelessness or depression difficulty talking about feelings.

Name 5 ACEs (there are 13)

Emotional Abuse Physical Abuse Sexual Abuse Emotional Neglect Physical Neglect Mother Treated Violently Household Substance Abuse Household Mental Illness Parental Separation or Divorce Incarcerated Household Member Hunger Homelessness Verbal

What are some things that can cause Insecure attachment

Hospitalization early in life or separation from parents, parent is emotionally absent due to mental illness, abuse, neglect, maltreatment, crying infant for long periods with no response or comfort offered.

In your community, who would you identify as key leaders to be a part of the team

I think a ton of people from churches can help

What are some practices to be positive

Identify areas for change Check yourself Be open to humor Follow a healthy lifestyle Surround yourself with positive people Practice positive self-talk

What is considered to be a lifelong impact of trauma in young children

Increased risk of chronic disease, learning and behavioral difficulties, increased risk of substance abuse, increased risk for early sexual activity and teen pregnancy, and more.

What is compassion fatigue

It builds over time but lacks empathy because of overexposure. Withdrawn from the experiences.

What does trauma due to ACEs in young children and the affect on their brain

It can change their circuitry and interrupt healthy learning

When the Amygdala is always stimulated through ACEs

It grows bigger and becomes hyperventilate to the environment. This can impact the rest of the brain and many other changes to children. Hippocampus can shrink in size.

How is mindfulness helpful in self-care

It helps focus attention to what is happening in the moment, it offers relaxation strategies such as deep-breathing, it helps to teach self-regulation to children.

What is one strategy for dealing with ACEs

It is important to teach the children how to recognize their emotions, and how to resolve them. Allow them to have their own space to recover. Mindfulness is another good option.

Why is it important to have a theory of change to address trauma within the community

It is much easier to have a community address a problem than a single individual.

Why is social-emotional learning especially important for children who have experienced ACEs

It nurtures resilience, children learn to use words to express their problems, and it builds executive function skills and self-regulation.

What is NOT a helpful way to support healthy sleep paterns

Look at social media on your mobile device

What does do your PART mean

Prevention, Avoid triggers, Respond with trauma-informed approaches, and Therapeutic interventions

What is the best description of the difference between primary and secondary trauma?

Primary trauma is the trauma you experience directly, secondary trauma is the trauma experienced as a result of caring for those who have experienced trauma

What is an appropriate role for the early care and education professional in addressing ACEs in the children in their care

Provide a stable, nurturing relationship for the child, and teach age-appropriate social-emotional skills to the child.

Kayla is a teacher in a 3-year-old classroom in a center city program where families have a high incidence of individual and community adverse experiences. She has found that each day gets a little more challenging to come to work. She is exhausted and notices that she is less patient with the children. She also goes home in the evening and is too tired to eat and usually goes to bed by 8:00 p.m. What might be happening? What should she do? How would you help support and encourage one another?

She is experiencing compassion fatigue and depression. Seek help so that she can talk through what she is experiencing. Attend a yoga class together.

Why is it important for caregivers who experienced trauma as children to address their own ACEs as well as ACEs experienced by the children from whom they care

So they can be caring and nurturing adults.

What does SEL stand for

Social and Emotional Learning

What is the pruning process

The brain prunes away used neurons and makes sharper often used neural pathways. Pruning happens in more to infants, in early childhood and early adolescence.

What happens after the initial stress response is activated

The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) initiates the production of cortisol by the adrenal glands.

What might children who are experiencing trauma be like when they arrive at childcare

They can be withdrawn or agitated. They are exposed to lots of adult interactions and reflected in the classroom.

Sensitive time periods

Time when the brain is particularly responsive to stimulus in the environment. This window for opportunity doesn't completely close but becomes smaller.

Critical time period

Time when the presence or absence of certain experiences result in irreversible changes. Absences of certain experiences result in irreversible changes.

What does a safety plan include?

Ways to return to a state of calm, a strategy for an internal action such as deep breathing or self-talk, and strategy for an external action such as talking or walking or getting a drink.

How might this impact their ability to care for the children

You can only teach what you know for yourself

What is synaptic plasticity

a change in the strength of the connections from one brain cell to another

What does ACEs mean

adverse childhood experiences

What are some helpful supports to have in place to help caregivers who have experienced ACEs

allow co-workers to talk and don't just send them home if there isn't enough children.

What are some signs or symptoms of insecure attachment

avoids eye contact, doesn't smile, doesn't reach out to be picked up, rejects your efforts to calm, soothe and connect, doesn't seem to notice or care when you leave them alone, cries inconsolably, doesn't coo or make sounds, doesn't follow you with their eyes, isn't interested in playing interactive games or playing with toys, spends a lot of time rocking or comforting themselves.

How do you get vicarious trauma or secondary trauma

by taking on the weight of others' trauma

What does the Amygdala do

controls emotions response

Toxic stress

destructive and lead to long-term health issues including obesity, heart disease, mental illness, and substance abuse.

What does the hippocampus do

emotional information and memory

What does the prefrontal cortex do

executive functions, mood, judgements and emotions

The number of ACEs a child experiences is inconsequential, and does not add to the already existing risk for long-term impact

false

You can take care of others without taking care of yourself first.

false

When a caregiver experiences secondary trauma or compassion fatigue, it is the same as burnout.

false if left unchecked it can lead to burnout and attrition

What is a good first step in an action plan to develop a trauma-informed community

find other community members with the same vision.

What is NOT a helpful way to increase your ability to think more positively

ignore the problem

Where is the noradrenergic nucleus of locus coeruleus located

in the pons of the brainstem

What criteria are important for selecting a SEL program to use in your ECE setting

introduce attachments and relationships, offer vocabulary and connecting it, lastly you can talk about specific strategies for self-regulation and problem solving. Sequential and age appropriate. Make sure to be intentional.

What happens when the sympathetic nervous system activates

it activates adrenal glands releasing adrenaline, a hormone that increases heart rate and breathing and prepares the body to respond. It releases glucose in the blood so that the body has energy available to react to the situation.

What is a short term goal for a family

meat their basic needs

Denise has noticed that a little girl in her three-year-old classroom often arrives crying and has begun to have outbursts in class that are disruptive during circle time. What is an example of a brain-based strategy Denise could use to address this new behavior

mindfulness practices

Brains are fully grown when first born

no they grow overtime based on experiences

Why is family engagement important

parents can potentially impede on the child's resilience. They need to help because without them things won't change.

What are some benefits of SEL learning

recognition of those emotions if the first most important part, addressing it and how to handle it is also helpful

What is cellular plasticity

refers to the number of brain cells communicating with each other

What does SEL program promote growth in

self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, responsible decision-making. Read the CASEL guide for more information

What are some negative affects of secondary or vicarious trauma

shift in their world view and compassion fatigue for others

What are "Triggers"

situations, people, and events that cause a person to feel an emotion

Is stress good

some stress can be good and help children overcome things in the future. There is also something known as toxic stress that is potentially harmful and damaging to the rest of their lives.

What are two ways the child's brain is shaped

stress and "serve and return"

What is cortisol

stress hormone that will allow the body to continue to respond until the threat passes. This puts them into the fight or flight response

What does the oradrenergic nucleus of locus coeruleus control

stress response system that regulates mood, irritability, locomotion, arousal, attention and the startle response.

What is Empathy

the ability to identify with another person by understanding and feeling what they may be feeling whether it is joy or suffering

When the hippocampus responds to the Amygdala threat

the hippocampus activates the sympathetic nervous system

What are some adverse community experiences

the location or place, equal opportunity, and people are major affects in adverse community experiences.

Why is it important to also consider ACEs in ECE providers

this can help the caregiver help the children better when they take care of themselves.

When children experience ACEs their bodies respond with

toxic stress

ACEs are linked to adult onset of chronic disease, mental illness, incarceration, and work difficulties

true

ACEs can carry over from childhood to adulthood and sometimes multiple generations

true

ACEs can leave more than emotional problems

true

Adequate sleep is another way to support physical and mental well-being

true

Anyone who cares for others who have been impacted by trauma is at risk for secondary or vicarious trauma

true

Children who have trauma typically have more than one ACE

true

Developing a safety plan before is important

true

Even though an ECE professional is not a therapist, she can still use therapeutic approaches to implement brain-based interventions in the ECE setting

true

If you build a relationship with the family you can address some of the issues easier

true

It is important to remember that you can overcome ACEs together

true

It is important to self-care for yourself

true

It is important to work with social connections when dealing with ACEs

true

Long-term impacts include smaller hippocampus leading to decreased memory capacity, increased cortisol, higher stress hormone levels that continue to increase inflammation in the body. Inflammation can lead to increased risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

true

Mindfulness is a way to refocus the brain

true

Mindfulness is important when dealing helping children work through trauma

true

Physical activity provides an outlet of enjoyment that helps counterbalance the body's stress

true

Primary attachment occurs between the child and parent

true

Sleep should be free of light and noise in cool temperature (white noise)

true

Stress can lead to dysregulation of the prefrontal cortex

true

Talking through you ACEs can help heal them

true

Teachers should share resources with families

true

The triggers of a child can trigger the caregiver

true

You should get daily physical activity

true

secondary attachment refers to the second tier of support that may come from family members, friends, and child care professionals

true

the higher number of ACEs, the greater the risk of physical and mental illness as well as social problems

true

two-thirds of adults had experienced one or more ACEs

true

Vicarious Trauma occurs over time and is not something that results from a one-time interaction or description about someone else's trauma

true, it can be compounded when caring for multiple children

Why is it important to build relationships with children in your child care program who are considered to be challenging

two thirds of children who bounced back could help those children recognize that they mattered. Most of the time that one person is not a family member. Every child deserves a champion.

What are some things to avoid when taking care of your physical health

unhealthy heavy meals, alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine...

As described in trauma awareness training, what is an important question to ask about a child who engages in disruptive behavior in the classroom

what happened to this child

What is a long term goal for a family

what they want in the long term as a family

What is a serve and return relationship

when you exchange positive interactions between an adult and child