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Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
@suzannezeedyk
Oct 4, 2020 • 22 tweets • 14 min read • Read on X
A THREAD on the #ACES debate.

I watched with interest this week as the ACES debate once again flowed across my Twitter feed. I stepped into Fierce Curiosity, aiming to make meaning of what I was seeing. This thread is about my insights....
2. @DrJessTaylor released a video in which she explained very clearly why she seriously dislikes t Public Health England @phe_uk video on #ACES. With 65K following, lots of people listen to what she has to say. She also started the hashtag #IAmNotMyACEs .
3. Many people responded to @DrJessTaylor observations, similarly criticising the stereotyping & simplicities (amongst other things) of the video. @_LisaCherry was one of them. She later clarified she dislikes the video but not the ACES framework.
4. @DrBurkeHarris in USA also responded, noting that one (poor) video does not represent a whole field of science. She also respectfully disagreed w/ @DrJessTaylor that ACES predict your destiny. Rather, ACES convey your risk.
5. Joycelyn Durk @2JD2 loved being offered this frame for thinking about ACES. She tweeted: "I love this! ACES convey risk, not destiny."
6. Another person who responded was Elizabth Perry @eperryinsights , frm Canada. She is t leading ACES activst in Canada & speaks always frm a lived experience perspective. She wrote a long passionate thread, explaining why she disagrees w/ @DrJessTaylor .
7. In particular, @eperryinsights feels that the hashtag #IAmNotMyACES is misrepresentative of the science. As she puts it "No one with any reputability is saying 'I am my ACES'." She is angry that this misrepresentation is being used to dismiss ACES.
8. @eperryinsights went further. Courageously, she called out t PRIVILEGE that seeps into ths debate. "Maybe you haven't been affected by yr ACES. Maybe you had enough [buffering]....Maybe you were lucky. But some of us grew up believng we were worthless."
9. @eperryinsights is trying to get those of us working w/ trauma to do something similar to what #BlackLivesMatter is doing: Get curious & self-reflective & #CheckOurPrivlege. If you deny you hv any privilege...well, that's t point, isn't it?
10. @paulinescott222 of @ACEAwareNation thn offered a thread ths morn, askng whethr all of us who want to tackle childhood adversity can best spend our effort arguing w/ each othr abt nuances or whthr we cd hv collaborative conversatns based on intention.
11. A private DM was sent to me, putting it more bluntly: "The internal ACES debate is like a broken record. Why are we tearng ourselves apart over nuances? The 'Left' so often does this! Some of these points are really importnt, but t squabbling keeps us frm hearing & thinkng."
12. I recall t origins of t ACES Movement in Scotland. It started in 2004, w/ @vruscotland & @karynmccluskey & @JohnCarnochan & @HarryBurns16 trying to reduce violence. No one can be against that, can they?? THERE WAS NO DEBATE. Mostly, there was silence.
13. But now? Now lots of people know. Tens of thousands of people know abt the effects of ACES/trauma/adversity. They start where they start, many knowng nothing of the history & the effort & the work is has taken to get CHILDHOOD SUFFERING on the agenda of more people's thinkng.
14. This questn goes back a lot further than 2004. As @_LisaCherry put it: "Social workers & others have been talking about this long before we used the language of ACES." Yes, at least 75 years, when attachment theorists tried. Back to children's campaigners of 1800s.
15. Here's the point of this long thread:
Here's what I think is differnt ths time. ACES is about all of us. People *get* that it isn't abt some 'other' group 'over there'. Every single one of us has an 'ACES score'. Even if its 0. Even if you hate scoring. This idea is about ME.
16. And people hv *feelings* abt this idea. Some are grateful for t idea, because it helps thm understnd thmselves. Other ppl reject it, because they don't think it adequately captures their sense of their life. Both responses are legitimate. And valuable. We can talk abt both.
17. I celebrate this debate. I remember the early days when there was no debate, when there was silence.
Now tens of thousands (millions?) of people are trying to figure out how to talk abt t IDEA that our childhood experiences affect every single one of us. This is progress....
18. Should I talk about this on Twitter? Some friends would tell me it is a waste of time to try to have nuanced discussions like this on social media. I should be out in the sunshine. Maybe...But I've given it a shot, because this conversation matters. Children are suffering.
19. A comment on one of our @ACEAwareNation videos has stayed w/ me: "How differnt my life might hv been were ths Movement alive in 1960s....I'm 61, still struggling. I've only recently realised that I've spent my life grieving for who I could have been."
20. The success of ths "movement" will be because it is not in t hands of policymakers & scientists. It will come frm t fact that an *IDEA* has infiltrated deeply enough into a culture: CHILDHOOD MATTERS. Experiences hv a lasting biological impact. For good or ill. On each of us.
21/end. I believe t more fiercely curious we can be, t more we will learn frm each other abt how to approach ths idea: t importance of childhood.
Our human species is in t midst of destroying t planet.
We need each other. Let's keep talkng.
Thanks everyone. Time for sunshine.
Colleagues, you may be interested in t thread above on the #ACES debate. @KeeganSmith_Law @UpstartScot @ACEAwareNL @LisaReagan3 @garywrobinson @RobinCogan @realdcameron @fionalarkin13 @connectionwork1 @ClaireAustin4 @sallycroachy @KevinNeary12 @AcesAyrshire_ed @CraigmillarCAH

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More from @suzannezeedyk

Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
May 9
"What is it that we still don't get?"
This is t title of an insightful article writtn by Cliffe & Solvason in 2022 an academc journal called 'Power & Education' @PowerandEd . That quote is frm me.
This is a THREAD highlightng the important qstns they ask.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.11…
Image
2. "In t opening speech for @TIGERSEYAcad 2017, Zeedyk asks 'what is that we still don't get?' Her point is that EY educators are often still not gettng the importnce of relatnshps, at policy or practice level."
Yep. I still think this. Well done @TIGERS_UK for opening up debate. Image
@TIGERSEYAcad @TIGERS_UK 3. "The dilemma Zeedyk alluded to emerges clearly when human development is closely scrutinised....Relatnshps are key to a child's learning, developmnt & resilience - inside & outside EY provision."
Delighted to see the theorists cited: @grahammusic1, @MoralLandscapes, Trevarthen Image
Read 7 tweets
Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
Jun 25, 2023
A #BabyThread about the sophistication of baby teasing.
This latest post from @DanWuori has been getting lots of shares & many of you have tagged me. I thought I would highlight some of the nuances so noone misses its fabulous complexity. THREAD.
2. So what can we see? Well, first, there aren't just 2 of them in on this joke, but 3! I am guessing that Daddy is filming the interaction, because there are two points when the baby looks directly at the camera as he says 'Dada'. With that look, he pulls Daddy into the joke.
3. Second, this is an example of what developmental psychologst Vasu Reddy calls 'infant clowning'. These are "acts which infants repeat deliberately in order to re-elicit laughter from others". He's learned something of emotionally managing his mama.😀
https://t.co/6gB4L1QBWKcairn.info/revue-enfance1…
Read 10 tweets
Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
May 28, 2023
How the new challenges faced by women footballers help us in thinking about responses to increased “school violence”. An analogy I didn’t have time to draw on today in my intvw w/ @Fionasstalker on @BBCRadioScot . THREAD. Image
2. A piece in this weekend's @guardian describes the increased hamstring injuries faced by top female footballers. Playing more often in elite matches places new demands on them. "Coaching methods are failing to keep up." The article explains how coaching has to adapt & change. Image
3. The @guardian article explains clearly how hamstrings work. We get a helpful schematic drawing & a Quick Guide. "Injuries tend to occur during sudden movements. Footballers are at high risk." So we've linked t biology (physiology) of hamstrings to real life (football). Grand! Image
Read 13 tweets
Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
May 27, 2023
The “Behaviour Crisis” in schools is not going away. The pandemic has affected developmnt even of babies. We must stop searching for who to blame: kids, govt, parents, teachers, etc. We must understand human development (ie trauma). Let me explain. THREAD bbc.com/news/uk-scotla…
2. This 2022 study found a "striking decline" in t verbal, non-verbal & cognitive performance of babies born during the pandemic. These core capacities will affect all areas of developmnt as babies age. (I have talked about this study to many audiences.) medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
3. This 2021 report showed that yng childrn's language develpmnt had been affected. I hear abt delayed language everywhere. Strugglng to express yrself results in frustration, which leads to behaviour that adults often punish & then relational conflict. bbc.co.uk/news/education…
Read 21 tweets
Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
May 26, 2023
How @ScotGovEdu announcement of a Behaviour Summit is turning into a #DramaTriangle that scapegoats children - and what we can each do to stay out of that mindset, thereby helping both teachers AND children (and their parents). A THREAD.
bbc.com/news/uk-scotla…
2. Yestrday I was quite vocal on Twitter, talking abt what I am watchng unfold as talk of ‘Youth Violence’ in Scotland unfurls across t media, Parliament, school staff rooms & third sector support organisations. By day’s end I was offerng analyses of absent words like “distress”.
3. Earlier in t day, I spent time at @BannermanHigh , deliverng an inservice ssn where I tried to help staff think abt trauma & stress. Many staff said they found it helpful. Some said I hadn’t offered enough practical ideas abt what teachers can DO to manage yng ppl’s behaviour. Image
Read 12 tweets
Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
Mar 12, 2023
How child-rearing forged the destiny of nations.

Many of you told me you found my recent posts on psycho-history & Nazi Germany to be insightful. So I thought I would offer you another THREAD.
2. Here’s the book I am featuring - by the determined Robin Grille.
Here’s his point: “The ultimate source of advances in human civilisation can be found in the day-to-day innovations in child rearing invented in the relationships of each caretaker & child.”
3. He offers insights into the impacts of religious extremism. He emphasises this: “Scriptures cannot be blamed for their believers’ attitudes. Those who favour violence can find justifications in any text.”
Read 9 tweets

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