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Teachers from schools around the Oklahoma City metro area have been lining up their cars in caravans and parading through their students’ neighborhoods this week to show their students how much they care about them. The teachers have written on their windows with car paint and taped on hand-written signs with messages of how much they love and miss their students. “We miss y’all,” read a sign held by one teacher Wednesday in Reagan Elementary's parade in Norman. The caravans have snaked down...

As organizations begin to make plans and re-focus during the virus outbreak, leaders should strive to respond using SAMHSA’s Trauma Informed Care principles. Below is a blog by Karen Johnson that was posted on acessonnection.com a few days ago. It concisely and effectively demonstrates how leaders can use Trauma Informed Care principles as they move their organizations forward. Read the article copied below or click here to go to the original blog post. Ubiquitous: present, appearing, found...

As we begin to navigate and find a new normal over the next few days with both our families and co-workers, we need to remember to be trauma responsive. The definition of trauma often includes the words “overwhelming sense of loss of control.” With the uncertainty the next few days or weeks may hold, we all may feel a loss of control. So, it is important to remember a few things to help us all respond rather than react to what is going on around us and inside us. If you haven’t heard of the...

HUNTINGTON — Through blowing bubbles, easy-to-follow activities and the occasional use of glitter, the West Virginia Trauma-Informed Mindfulness for Kids program is expanding to help youth struggling with trauma or toxic stress find positive coping strategies in Cabell and Wayne counties. The program, also known as TIME4K, is a three-year, grant-funded pilot initiative through Marshall University’s Social Work and Psychology departments that offers resources to teachers and behavioral...

Four years ago, Dr. Leslie Dempsey would never have talked about ACEs — adverse childhood experiences — with her patients. Now ACEs is a common topic. “Just as I don’t feel awkward asking someone if they smoke or do intravenous drugs, I don’t really feel awkward talking about their childhood traumas in a way that it relates to their health. It’s just integrated into obtaining background and social history,” she says. Dr. Leslie Dempsey Dempsey is a physician in obstetrics who oversees a team...

Stay current with ACEs Connection -- and easily share stories via social media and email -- by accessing ACEs Connection and/or your community’s home page on your phone. Adding an ACEs Connection shortcut to your phone works for iPhone and Android systems and makes staying logged in, checking in, and sharing out quick and easy, on-the-go! Community managers: Share this post with community members, as using the shortcut is a great way to help your members stay abreast of what’s going on! On...

Where to begin... My heart is full of hope and joy as I watch the trauma-informed schools movement swell across our nation and planet. The science of ACEs is mind-bending to say the least and we are now able to open up a much deeper dialogue about human behavior and health. Ultimately this work is about healing… All. Of. Us. A new consciousness is taking root around ending the “us vs them” construct. The idea is growing that we’re all on this journey together and that no matter where our...

N umerous national surveys, cohort studies, and meta-analyses have documented the etiologic and experiential connections between childhood abuse, physical illness, and mental health disorders 1 , 2 spanning from childhood to adulthood. Yet pediatric training and practice typically focus primarily on the identification and treatment of physical health conditions. The recent advent of enthusiasm for integrated care is a welcome nod to the marked comorbidities that have been amply reported.

As agencies, schools and communities move toward becoming Trauma Informed, we should all remember in order “to go faster we should slow down”. I often tell leadership that becoming trauma informed is similar to how great Redwood trees grow. I heard a story once that a person visited the great Redwood forest and part of the tour led the group through an area that had previously suffered from a forest fire. As the crowd looked at the small trees growing, the guide explained that the...

By Nuria Martinez-Keel, The Oklahoman, February 17, 2020 Thousands of educators gathered in the Cox Convention Center on Monday and eagerly stared at a model of a brain. With 86 billion neurons firing, the brain is a “miracle of complexity,” Dr. Bruce Perry said as he showed the image on a screen. The impact of childhood trauma is similarly intricate. The renowned psychiatrist and child trauma expert spoke to an arena full of teachers, school counselors and nonprofit workers for the Oklahoma...

By Joe Dorman, The Duncan Banner, February 15, 2020 Now that the 2020 session of the Oklahoma Legislature is underway, we have a better idea of measures we as child advocates must support and those about which we must be cautious. Normally there are 149 lawmakers, 101 state representatives and 48 state senators. There are currently two vacancies, one in the House of Representatives and one in the Senate. The 147 left were busy, filing 2,243 new bills for this year. Combined with the those...

Thousands of educators gathered in the Cox Convention Center on Monday and eagerly stared at a model of a brain. With 86 billion neurons firing, the brain is a “miracle of complexity,” Dr. Bruce Perry said as he showed the image on a screen. The impact of childhood trauma is similarly intricate. The renowned psychiatrist and child trauma expert spoke to an arena full of teachers, school counselors and nonprofit workers for the Oklahoma State Department of Education’s third-annual trauma...