Thread by @eperryinsights

My system has been firing for hours since I first saw this thread show up in my feed. I feel absolutely furious that people are misrepresenting #ACEsScience as determinant & dismissing it as unethical & faulty. No one with any reputability is saying "I am my ACEs." #WhyITalkACEs

https://twitter.com/DrBurkeHarris/status/1312428665561464833

Maybe you haven't been affected by your experience of #ACEs Maybe you had enough mitigating experiences of #BCEs or #PCEs Maybe you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps. Maybe you were able to access resources in early adulthood to prevent or redirect long term effects.

Maybe the effects of your #ACEs and #ChildhoodToxicStress just haven't shown up in your physiology yet. #Cancer #HeartDisease #Diabetes #COPD #Obesity #AutoimmuneDisease #Suicide #Depression have all been shown to also occur in people with histories of #ChildAbuse #ChildNeglect

Maybe you're one of the lucky humans who never experienced #ACEs either the measured 10 or the otherwise measured innumerous ones that create #ToxicStress during the developmental years.
If this is you, #CountYourBlessings & #LeverageYourPrivilege to lift others. #Humility1st

The truth is, we live in a world where most humans have experienced #Trauma
We live in a #TraumaInfusedCivilization
We have created #TraumaOrganizedSystems
Colonial Child Rearing philosophy itself negates the child, subordinates the child, positions adults as superior.

#WhyITalkACEs
Because #ItsUs #ItsNotThem
#AdultsHarmChildren because most adults were harmed as children.
Because our experiences were so common throughout our societies, we thought they were normal.
It's no one's fault, but it's all our #ResponseAbility to change the future

As adults who experienced #ACEs it's possible we are at risk of future effects manifesting in our lives. If we now understand those potential risks, we can take action to mitigate them. We can't change our past, and maybe our present is great, but we don't know our future.

If you are an adult who has thrived in spite of your #ACEs Congratulations! I'm very happy for you. I wish that were true for all of us. Many of us have experienced extraordinary challenges in our adult lives, and finding out about #ACEs have provided meaning for our struggles.

#ACEs are not determinant. But they are risk factors that have been identified, researched, corroborated through multiple studies around the world across multiple generations using different terminology. #ChildAbuse #Neglect #ToxicStress adversely undermines #BuildHealthyBrains

Human adults have the #ResponseAbility to ensure current & future generations of our children receive the best possible chance to develop to their potential. That means facing our own limitations & ensuring we are not inadvertently projecting them onto our kids. #MakeLifeBetter

I get that not everyone likes the #ACEsFramework No problem. Use whatever works for you. We're on the same team anyway if we're working to #MakeLifeBetter for all children. But don't belittle people who do talk #ACEs They've been a gift to many of us. No data is comprehensive.

#WhyITalkACEs because after years of wondering "Why Me" for the struggles I experienced in my adult life, #ACEs gave me answers. #ACEs aren't everyone's favourite lens, but they're mine. I correlate them with Colonial Child Rearing philosophy which informs white adult supremacy.

#WeAreAllMotherNaturesChildren
Some of us grew up believing we were worthless.
Some of us grew up being told we were God's gift to the world.
Some of us have always known we were worthy, yet were still rejected by fellow humans.
I want to live in a world where all are valued.