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Suzanne Zeedyk Profile picture
Suzanne Zeedyk
@suzannezeedyk
Helping build a society that's trauma-informed. We all need strong internal teddy bears to fight the sabre tooth tigers. Speaker, trainer, researcher, agitator
William Hite Profile picture Zoe Raven Profile picture 2 subscribed
Jun 25, 2023 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
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.
May 28, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
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
May 27, 2023 • 21 tweets • 6 min read
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…
May 26, 2023 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
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”.
Mar 12, 2023 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
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.”
Mar 9, 2023 • 13 tweets • 5 min read
With recent attentn to similarities to 1930s Germany (thank you @GaryLineker), I thought I wd offer a THREAD on how cultural beliefs about children's needs has been shown to relate to t rise of the Nazis. It wasn't all abt t economics. It was abt obliteratng empathy in infancy. Image 2. I am drawing on the work of the remarkable psycho-historian Robin Grille for this thread. In his book, he explores in depth how "child-rearing affects world affairs". He then looks at a range of cultures: Yugoslavia, Russian Stalinism, Christian-right America & Nazi Germany. Image
Jan 2, 2023 • 20 tweets • 12 min read
Let's begin 2023 with a #BabyThread (well, really a #ToddlerThread) that helps us make sense of anticipation - and what helps when we are struggling. This little guy & his parents have lots to teach us about that.
(Thank you @danwuori for t brill posts you offer to work with.) 2. He walks into the hospital room. Let's think about that. He's probably never been in one before. Lots of weird furniture, no schema for how such a room looks to help him make sense of the layout. And so he can't find the particular thing he's looking for: His new brother.
Dec 31, 2022 • 24 tweets • 12 min read
Let's end this year with a #BabyThread of Hope & Comfort, which this little fella sought to offer his frightened friend. What's going on in this 33 sec story if we look closely? What can the Science of Connection help us to see? (I do love being able to share these insights!) 🧵 2. We begin the story knowing the problem: A lamb is lost and looking for her (?) mother. We can imagine her fear & anxiety. We can hear it in her bleat. The reason the video catches our heart is because we realise the little boy is alert to that fear too. He tries to help. Image
Dec 3, 2022 • 42 tweets • 24 min read
What if this isn't a kid being cute, but a kid coping with shaming? This Santa video is making the rounds again, w/ folks saying 'how funny, how adorable'. I'm going to show you the sadness, anger, surprise & distrust that so easily goes unseen by us adults. A THREAD. 2. First, I need to ask myself: Why? I'm going to be doing somethng really risky here. I'm going to show how a child suffers from somethng his daddy said to him. I try hard not to do this on social media. It risks shaming that daddy & by implication, all parents. Bad move.Unkind.
Dec 1, 2022 • 15 tweets • 10 min read
I keep thinking about the renewed rise of adults who make money by telling themselves & others that children need to be physically abused in order to grow up well. Here’s a THREAD reminding us what such policies look like, for children, when put into practice. 2. WHY do adults believe in beating, spanking, smacking, belting, paddling, abusing children? (Feel free to choose your favourite phrasing). Ultimately, it is based in a belief in the “innate wickedness of children”, as @axrenton puts it. Badness needs to be beaten out of them. Image
Nov 27, 2022 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
The British Psychological Society @BPSOfficial ran a feature on cortisol & stress in their Oct magazine - written by Prof Mark Wetherell. I thought I would share a few of its valuable insights. THREAD 2. Insight 1: we often think of cortisol as “bad”. That’s not true. It is a hormone that is intended to help you cope with a stressor.
“Adrenaline is immediate. About 20 mins after onset of a stressful event, if it hasn’t gone away, you start secreting cortisol.”
Nov 25, 2022 • 7 tweets • 6 min read
"The neurology of power"
That's t terminology of Suzanne Alleyne @AlleyneAnd. Her point ? Power becomes woven human biology, into bodies & brains, in ways that make can make ppl less empathic. She was in @guardian ths wk. Here's more frm her. A THREAD.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/… 2. Here is @AlleyneAnd unpacking the nuances of the neuroscience of power. She says that power remains a taboo subject. We don't like talking about it. She's right. This video is from 2020 @CIVIC_SQUARE, based in Birmingham. @paulinescott222
Nov 13, 2022 • 22 tweets • 14 min read
On #WorldKindnessDay, I wanted to give serious consideration to HOW @JohnLewisRetail Christmas ad #TheBeginner communicates its message of welcome & love, which has proven to mean so much to the Care Experienced Community but others have mocked. So here's a THREAD. @whocaresscot 2. I had thought maybe it wd be overkill to offer one of my analyses of #TheBeginner - a bit obvious, a bit overegging t story - until I read t depressing analysis frm @stuheritage in @guardian, which @RebekahPierre92 found so hurtful. Changed my mind.
Nov 4, 2022 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Apparently Prince Philip, father of Charles, found his son needy & irritating. He thought sending him off to austere Gordonstoun (which Philip had loved) would toughen Charles up.
My point is not to embarrass. My point is to show that childhood experiences last a lifetime. 2. "Charles was shy &withdrawn, and he sometimes seemed lonely & isolated. I don't think Gordonstoun was the right school for him, as I don't think he was ready for that slightly macho environment. Charles was a gentler, more thoughtful person."
newsweek.com/i-was-school-k…
Nov 2, 2022 • 21 tweets • 7 min read
There is a long forgotten story in Britain's history which shows how class & privilege intersect w/ the push for trauma-informed policies. It helps us understand resistance to change. It starts in 1945 in children's hospitals. A THREAD.
Warning: You will need #FierceCuriosity. Image 2. There was a mum. Her name ws Patricia. She had a little boy she loved a lot. His name ws Conrad. One day, whn he was 7, he got a high fever & needed to be admitted to hospital. Here's a picture of her - although on t night he ws so sick, she probably looked a lot more frantic. Image
Oct 5, 2022 • 15 tweets • 8 min read
My thread of yestrdy on neoliberalism has had lots of engagement. So I thought I wd create a second one. My aim is to help us be able to SEE ths insidious, invisible ideology that we & our children all live in. We are like fish, swimming in water we can't make sense of. A THREAD. 2. If you missed yestrdy's thread, here it is. I tried to help us make sense of the current extreme proposals for economic growth. Why do they seem so disconnected from the needs of 'real people'? Answer: That decoupling is the aim of neoliberalism.
Oct 4, 2022 • 16 tweets • 11 min read
We in the UK are living in t midst of a frightening political storm arising out of NEOLIBERALISM. Lots of people aren't even sure what that means, tho. So here's a THREAD that explains how this ideology frames t way we see childhood, trauma, relationships & our societal future. 2. Let's start w/ this video frm @GeorgeMonbiot , released today by @DoubleDownNews . In 10mins, he charts history of neoliberalism, explaing its relation to movemnt of £, to kindness &empathy, & to politics (whch I know is not evryone's favourite thing).
Sep 17, 2022 • 15 tweets • 7 min read
The Queen's funeral provides valuable insights into why a trauma-informed approach is so counter-cultural for Britain. Bottom line: We esteem suffering. Duty, denial, transcendence, connection. It's all there, mixed together. A THREAD. 2. At its core, a trauma-informed, relational, ACE-aware, attachment-led approach (call it what you wish) asks us to 1) listen to emotions and 2) respond to them with soothing when they are sore. If we don't, then we become unhealthy & disconnected from ourselves & others.
Sep 16, 2022 • 4 tweets • 5 min read
I too stood in a Queue today. It too was part of a ceremony marking loss & achievement & endurance. The women too donned special clothing. And we too engaged in a ritual: hand-holding, which turned the Queue into an inclusive circle. My Queue was situated inside a prison. @DavidAberneth14 @siscorecovery @paulinescott222 @natalieloganmac @yvonnestanley21 @kellydeans3003 @HowellLeeh @JohnCarnochan @karynmccluskey @TIGERS_UK @JulieReid82 @tessp1971 @BrownOpal58 @coyneybhoy @KeeganSmith_Law
Sep 15, 2022 • 10 tweets • 6 min read
Today I gave a particularly edgy talk, exploring the ways in which a culture can fail to hear & meet children's emotional needs. Sometimes that isn't regarded as a failing: sometimes ignoring those needs is the aim. Here are people whose work/stories I included. Image 2. I talked abt @axrenton on t impacts of boarding school. I linked that to similar histories of Charles Spencer @cspencer1508, William & Harry & their father Charles. I quoted @thepetitioner speakng of her father, sent to boarding school at 7, "quick to anger over tiny things". Image
Aug 29, 2022 • 13 tweets • 9 min read
Let's start Monday off with a THREAD of Baby Joy. @JackieGalbraith has kindly offered us 4 rich seconds to work with. What happens when a bairn is helped to "give himself some well-deserved applause after some serious crawling"? 2. We start the film with this wee one looking at his own clapping hands. If we listen closely to the soundtrack, we realise there's a grown-up in the room who is also clapping.