Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Padlet by Alyssa Hunsinger

What are ACEs?

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 20:32:34 UTC

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are stressful situations or events that occur in the lives of individuals between the ages of 1 and 17.

These traumatic events can include the following:
- Bullying
- Witnessing the death of a parent, loved one, or another human
- Sexual abuse
- Physical abuse or domestic violence
- Living through a natural disaster (floods, wildfires, or hurricanes)
- School shootings
- Removal of a parent through a separation or divorce
- Having an incarcerated parent or loved one
- Living with a parent who struggles with substance abuse

Prevalence Of ACEs

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 22:23:15 UTC

Adverse Childhood Experiences have the potential to affect everyone no matter what race, ethnicity, or background a person may have. 64% of people have had exposure to at least one adverse childhood experience in their lifetime. In addition, 1 in 6 people have experienced at least 4 ACEs or more during the ages of 1 to 17. ACEs can be split up into three major groups: abuse, neglect, and household challenges. According to the Kaiser ACE Study, physical abuse affected 28.3% of individuals found in the study. Additionally, substance abuse ranked the highest in the household challenges category at 26.9% of individuals affected. Lastly, emotional neglect was shown to affect 14.8% of individuals in the study.

Risk Factors

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 22:33:48 UTC

What factors automatically put a person at risk for experiencing an adverse childhood experience? For starters, females are at a higher risk of facing an adverse childhood experience when compared to men. Women can be at risk of being affected by domestic violence, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse. They may also be affected by drug and alcohol consumption or even through a separation or divorce with a loved one. Additionally, non-Hispanic American Indians and Alaska Natives are ranked as the highest category for individuals with ACEs. Poverty, homelessness, and low socioeconomic status can also be contributing to a child's exposure to one or more ACE. If parents are stressed out or struggling with finances, this can put young children and adolescents at risk of experiencing several ACEs because their parents are under such extreme or chronic stress for longer periods of time.

Teacher Support in the Classroom

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 22:45:51 UTC

How can you support children who have experienced one or more ACEs? First, teachers can build a strong working relationship with both their students and their families. This will allow students to feel comfortable walking into the classroom while giving students room to share difficult situations that may be going on at home. Next, teachers can reduce stressful situations that occur in the classroom by creating routines and practicing safety protocols frequently. Additionally, a teacher can create a calm down space in the classroom for students to utilize if they have become overwhelmed or dysregulated in class. Fourth, a teacher can incorporate important life skills into the classroom instruction to help teach important coping skills and how to identify their emotions. Lastly, teachers must make sure that their students are getting their daily needs met before the school day starts. For example, a teacher can supply students with snacks or water at the start of each day if a student comes to school without breakfast or lunch. I even have let students sleep in class for part of a lesson if I notice that they have come to school without a proper night's sleep.

Impact on the Brain

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 22:54:45 UTC

How can a child's brain be impacted by an adverse childhood experience? According to Dr. Perry, our brains are state-dependent. This means that a person's functioning is based on how they are feeling and if they are regulated or not. Even though our students could have similar experiences or stressors, they may react to situations differently based on the severity and longevity of their stress and exposure to each ACE. Therefore, a child's stress can interfere with their ability to internalize new information through their cortex. As a teacher, we must first help our students become regulated before we ever begin to teach them new concepts. After they are regulated, we can then attempt to relate to them and their situation by using compassion and sympathy. Lastly, if a student has become regulated, we can then begin to reason with them and teach them using the given situation. Children can only take in new information if they are engaged, but they must first be regulated before learning can ever occur. Teachers have the hard job of breaking through the barriers that students with ACEs have because they always tend to be in fight or flight mode. First, we must build relationships with our students before we ever begin to teach them new concepts.

Assessment

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 22:56:20 UTC

How can adverse childhood experiences be assessed? ACEs can be detected through a screening test and referrals for young children. For adults, California Surgeon General's Clinical Advisory Committee has a questionnaire that adults can fill out to determine how many ACEs they have been exposed to in their lifetime before the age of 18. In addition, children can be assessed using the Pediatric ACEs and Related Life Events Screener (PEARLS). This is a questionnaire that is filled out by a child's caregiver that gives insight to if and when a child has been exposed to various life situations. Also, a child's pediatric doctor can ask open ended questions to gauge if a child has experienced chronic life stress or if they are currently be affected by one of the various ACE categories.

ACEs Questionnaire

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 23:11:30 UTC

Pediatric ACEs and Related Life Events Screener (PEARLS) Questionnaire

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 23:18:04 UTC

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-14 23:26:11 UTC

Padlet Reflection

ahunsinger933 — 2025-07-15 00:36:26 UTC