This is a visualization of various theories of human development.

This picture represents how I learn best, which is hands on and experientially.

This is a picture of Tony Soprano, one of the most famous examples of antisocial personality disorder in media. It is a fictional example of how childhood trauma can manifest in a variety of negative ways and last long into adulthood.

As we learned in the discussion board videos, there are many different things that can happen biologically while in the womb that can effect development over the entire lifespan.

We unfortunately have to deal with tornados in Tennessee. Natural disasters can cause serious trauma and enormous stress for individuals leading to PTSD or acute stress disorder.

This is a picture of Alice Wong, an author and disability rights advocate who argues that our society would benefit from being more inclusive of people with disabilities because they offer a diversity of experience and abilities compared to society at large that can improve the lives of everyone. Reading her book completely changed the way I look at disability rights issues.

Systemic racism effects development in a variety of interconnected ways, but in this example Black youth are far more likely than White youth to be incarcerated at a young age. This has huge impacts on their life trajectory as it effects educational attainment, social development, and the incarceration can be traumatic all by itself which has effects of its own. Recognizing the structural advantages I have and the disadvantages others have has had a big impact on how I see the world.

When I worked in foster care I only saw a handful of cases in 4 years that weren't drug related in some way. The effect this has on a child's development is huge, if nothing else the trauma of being removed from your home and forced to live with strangers can be severe. In my experience there were also very often big cultural differences between the mostly middle or upper middle class foster parents and the foster kids who mostly grew up well below the poverty line which had effects as well. This is not even mentioning the effects of the abuse or neglect that led to their removal in the first place.

Mental and physical health are essential for optimum development and wellness across the lifespan. One thing I like to do that is good for both is hiking. It is good exercise and also being in nature is a natural stress reliever.