Topic 1.4 Long-term Impacts of ACES
You will need to watch the video in its entirety before moving to the next topic.
Video Credit: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) explained by Prevail (Prevention of Violence across the Lifespan), the Oxford Centre for Child Studies, the Families First Team, and McMaster University.
ACES can be harmful to children’s:
- Social/emotional development,
- Behavioral development,
- Brain development, and
- Nervous system development.
ACES can have a serious long-term impact on a child’s:
- Mental functioning,
- Physical functioning, and
- Social functioning.
ACES can include many types of difficult or traumatic experiences that happen to the child or that the child watches happen.
ACES are trauma that a child can experience themselves or observe happening to others, for example:
- Emotional, physical, and/or sexual abuse
- Neglect
- Bullying and/or violence
- Physical or mental illness
- Incarceration
- Racism, sexism, or other discrimination
- Homelessness
- Natural disaster
- Terrorism, or
- War
Research tells us that experiencing even one ACE can impact a child’s health.
Experiencing the same ACE over and over again causes even greater harm.
Traumatic experience like ACES impacts more than behavior.
Traumatic experiences cause changes in a child’s nervous system and brain.
Consider Lewis
Lewis is three years old. Lewis saw his stepfather hit his mother more than once. Lewis and his mother are now living in an apartment alone. When Lewis is asked to do something new, Lewis tends to use his hands inappropriately with his teachers. Lewis also uses his hands inappropriately with his friends, usually when he is playing with his favorite toys and a friend wants to play, too. Lewis saw his stepfather use his hands inappropriately for a long time.