Resilience Trumps ACES

DAYTON—On Oct. 19, the community was treated to a special showing at the Liberty Theater, of the documentary film “Resilience”, which is about ACES (adverse childhood experiences), and teaching resilience to children who are affected by ACES.

Then, at the Methodist church, on Oct. 27, Jim Sporleder, who is a trauma-informed coach, consultant, and trainer, presented information about ACES and some of the research and data that supports a trauma informed approach to ACES,in schools.

Sporleder was the principal at Lincoln High School in Walla Walla, when Director James Redford filmed last year’s documentary “Paper Tigers.” “Paper Tigers” followed several students at LHS who were impacted by ACES. The film “Resilience” is also directed by James Redford.

Now retired from Lincoln, Sporleder serves as a trauma-informed coach/consultant and trainer with the Children’s Resilience Initiative in Walla Walla.

What are ACES?

There are ten ACES, and they include physical, emotional or sexual abuse, physical or emotional neglect, parental mental illness, substance dependency, incarceration, parental separation or divorce, or domestic violence.

ACES have been identified as the single greatest public health threat in the United States by the Center for Disease Control.

For instance, people having four ACES, or more, are 32 times more likely to have behavioral problems including difficulty with regulation of emotions, criminal activity, and substance abuse.

“Behavior is not a choice,” said Sporleder.

The child may not remember, but the body remembers.

Childhood trauma through abuse, neglect, or having parents who struggle with mental health or substance abuse issues places children at risk for physical problems, as well. The developing brain, the immune system, the hormone system, and the way DNA is read and transcribed, are all impacted by ACES, according to Dr. Nadine Burke Harris at the Center for Youth and Wellness in San Francisco, who was featured in the film “Resilience.”

Children with ACES have a triple lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. And there is a 20-year difference in lifetime expectancy, for people having six or more ACES, she said.

Dr. Harris said that many times after completing a thorough history and physical on a child, she could not make a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, when children were referred to her. She said she discovered that their problems were due to severe trauma instead.

ACES are common, don’t blame poverty or race.

In 1995 and in 1997, 17,421 well educated, middle class, and affluent, Caucasian adults took part in a two-fold ACES study at Kaiser Permanente. The results of that study showed that ACES are common.

Sixty-seven percent had one ACE, and one out of eight people surveyed had four or more.

People with ACES are not doomed

Pointing to the work of Harvard neuromolecular biologist John Medina, who wrote a book called Brain Rules, and after hearing Medina speak in 2010, Sporleder learned that stressed brains can’t learn.

So he and his staff at Lincoln High School began a paradigm shift away from punitive, control-based teaching to a trauma informed approach, he said.

“We went from reacting and telling, to asking and responding,” said Sporleder.

Sporleder outlined the new approach at LHS which included holding kids accountable, modeling unconditional love, making sure students’ voices were heard and their feelings validated, and changing negative belief systems, so that trust and relationships could form, he said.

In the first year of making the paradigm shift there were 600 office referrals, which gradually dropped to 242, the last year Sporleder was at LHS, he said.

During the first year, there were 48 arrests, and in the last year there were 12. And the numbers of school suspensions, which were at 798 the first year, dropped to 96 the last year, said Sporleder.

“State assessment scores for 2012 and 2013 went up,” he said.

In 2010 there were fifty five high school graduates. In 2014, there were seventy eight, he added.

“You have to get the social and emotional piece addressed first. The research says students will thrive in a trauma-informed school,” said Sporleder.

One stable, caring and healthy adult can make a difference in the life of a child.

In the film “Resilience”, Dr. Harris said that young children don’t have the skills to articulate stress, so beginning early in a child’s life teachers and others can help them to understand what is, and isn’t, normal behavior at home. They can be helped to name the scary things, and express their feelings, she said.

Dr. Harris said that she is an advocate for universal screening for ACES during well check-ups, and she uses an integrated approach to treating her patients.

Dr. Harris also advocates for parents by providing them with strong buffering practices, including therapy, mindfulness and meditation, nutrition, exercise counseling, and education.

Sporleder agrees.

“We can do early intervention, and head off a lot of problems,” he said.

Our community is trauma informed.

Thirt.y counties in Washington State participate in trauma-informed care approaches in schools.

“Everyone in the state is getting on board with being trauma informed,” said Peggy Guiterrez, who is the coordinator for the Coalition for Youth and Families and the drug free grant, which is in its fifth year, here.

Dayton High School Principal Paul Shaber said that in March, 2016, all students in grades 6 through 12, took the ACES survey.

Guiterrez said that students in the Dayton School District benefit from the work of the Coalition for Youth and Families, through the work of the Students Helping Each Other club, through the services of high school intervention specialist Rick Waltner, and through the Blue Mountain Counseling “Guiding Good Choices” program for parents.

She said the current goal for SHEO and the CFYF is to expand the range of students participating in SHEO, and to break down the barriers that exist between students who have ACES and those who do not.

“Your ACEs don’t define you,” Guiterrez added.

The film “Resilience” and the presentation by Jim Sporleder were sponsored by the Dayton High School SHEO club, and the Coalition for Youth and Families.

More information about ACES and resilience can be found at: http://www.resiliencetrumpsaces.org or: http://www.cfyf.org or: contact Peggy Guiterrez at: 382-1511.