Authors: Siobhan Collingwood, Andy Knox, Heather Fowler, Sam Harding, Sue Irwin and Sandra Quinney
What this little book tells you
This little book has been written by a small group of front-line practitioners who have extensive experience in supporting children who are living with trauma and/or experiencing traumatic events. We are all based in the Northwest of England and work in the education sector and the NHS. We have written this Little Book to inform other practitioners about what ACEs are, what their immediate effects are and how they can affect children both in the short term and throughout their lives. We offer the reader some case study examples, and also discuss a number of different ways that have been developed to manage the effects of ACEs and to prevent them occurring in the first place.
Introduction
A societal change is happening – across the world and the United Kingdom, people are becoming ACE aware. ACEs stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences, and the term is used to describe stressful situations that children may experience; this includes domestic violence, drug and/or alcohol abuse, familial mental health issues, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, separation, loss and incarceration of a family member.
Surveys show that ACEs are very common, with between half and two thirds of respondents having experienced one or more ACE. The more we have found out about this subject the more it has resonated with our own lives and daily experiences. As parents, friends, teachers and people who have experienced some ACEs within our own early years, our increased awareness of this subject has helped us to make sense of behaviours that can be seen as frustrating and bewildering within a school environment.
So why does this matter? Current research and collected evidence clearly demonstrate the effects of cumulative and prolonged stress in a child’s body and brain, profoundly altering the development of their brains, immune systems and resistance to disease, so much so that a child with exposure to multiple ACEs may have a 20 year shorter life expectancy and is much more susceptible to risk taking or criminalised behaviour. Even worse, they are very likely to pass these traits on to the next generation.
The good news is that these outcomes can be improved and ACEs can be prevented. Early action and prevention can have a profoundly positive impact upon health, educational and criminal outcomes, improving the long-term outcomes for individuals and families, but also increasing the nation’s cultural, societal and financial capital.
As practitioners, we have found that increased understanding of ACEs has helped us to be more tolerant and kinder to ourselves and others. Improved understanding of these issues has fostered such practices as kind listening and unconditional positive regard. This helps healing and minimises damage, while building resilience in families, groups and individuals. We believe that with simple kindness, having better knowledge and access to appropriate support, it is possible to prevent ACEs from blighting the lives of people and reduce the intolerable strains that their effects put upon society. But we can only do this if we are ACE aware and ACE alert, only if everyone; teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, bar staff, volunteers, teenage friends, and parents know what they are and how they affect so many people.
Over half of the people you will meet today have lived with and been affected by ACEs. How would it alter the way you interact with them and your expectations of them, if you saw them through this lens? That is why this Little Book matters. The toxic effects of ACEs will not be mitigated by a visit to a professional alone; appropriate support services will only be effective if they are complimented by the daily interactions that we all have with each other. This cannot be left to an anonymous professional to deal with, we all need to be aware and ready to play our part in healing the effects of so many silent and hidden cuts to people’s sense of self, health and prospects.
In the next section, we will look more closely at some of the research that has been carried out into ACEs and discuss how, as a society, we can begin to support those who need our help to heal and move on from their early traumatic experiences.