Adverse Childhood Experiences (www.pbs.org) & Dr. Bruce Perry Quotes

Christine Cissy White 10/26/182:26 PM

Anyone who follows Dr. Bruce Perry on Twitter knows he's got lots of feelings and opinions about how some are using the ACE study and ACE scores. It's not always easy in Tweets to understand the depth of his questions and concerns. If, like me, you respect his work and views and wish you knew more, you are in luck. In this episode of Explore Health which aired on PBS yesterday, he is interviewed and speaks about ACEs. Here are some of the things he said:

"This malleability (of the brain) also means that there's vulnerability if the external experiences are chaotic, if they're extremely traumatic or if they don't have necessary elements, which is what we call neglect." Dr. Bruce Perry
"Stress is actually good for you. You cannot get better at anything unless you're stressed. You can't learn how to walk unless you're stressed. You can't lean how to talk, you can't learn how to do a sport. You can't learn how to form a relationship unless you're stressed." Dr. Bruce Perry
"You can't get through life without adversity. It's just impossible."
Dr. Bruce Perry
"Connection to healthy people is a buffer against stressors."
Dr. Bruce Perry
"What you always want to look at is the balance. What's the balance between the challenges and adversities somebody has and the relational wealth or relational poverty they are experiencing?" Dr. Bruce Perry
"What the ACE study did, which was really good, it was an epidemiological study, so what that really means is they asked a few simple questions of a lot of people. So it's like a 30,000 feet flyover." Dr. Bruce Perry
"One is the transgenerational cycle. If you grow up and you have lots of adversity, you're going to think, have a world view, and think and behave in ways, that increase the probability that some of that will have impact on the way you parent." Dr. Bruce Perry
"I talked about ACEs a lot because it was one of the ways, it was a really effective public engagement element." Dr. Bruce Perry
One of the reasons the ACE narrative has been so compelling is that it does talk about increased risk for health problems. That has made people sit up and pay attention." Dr. Bruce Perry
"Connectedness counterbalances adversity." Dr. Bruce Perry
"Some of the most unhealthy early childhood practices we see, are people who have lots of resources. And some of the healthiest practices we see, are people who are poor, economically." Dr. Bruce Perry
"This ACE score that you have is not an inevitability." Dr. Bruce Perry

To watch the entire Explore Health episode, hosted by Ron Harr, go here.

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Comments (5)

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Christine Cissy WhiteIt's not trauma-informed unless it's informed by trauma survivors.

Kaci May posted:
Anyone who says "all kids are our kids" is someone who hasn't parented through adoption a truly hurt kid with a diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder or another similar diagnosis. Children with RAD do not need anyone other than good parents to provide for needs and wants. Healthy parental connections is the key to healthy development of children.

Kaci:
100% agree. I'm an adoptive parent and as far as attachment goes, YOU ARE SO RIGHT ON! Thanks for calling that out and pointing that out. I really appreciate it. I meant we are all, collectively, as a society responsibility for the well-being of all and not only the kids we parent. We must create policies as a society that supports parents in parenting and in general because that's good for all. Thanks for the comment! Great point. Cissy

10/28/188:46 AM

Kaci MayMember

Anyone who says "all kids are our kids" is someone who hasn't parented through adoption a truly hurt kid with a diagnosis of Reactive Attachment Disorder or another similar diagnosis. Children with RAD do not need anyone other than good parents to provide for needs and wants. Healthy parental connections is the key to healthy development of children.

10/27/1811:19 PM

Former Member

Instead of talking Mental Health shouldn't we be talking about love, caring, connection, community. It's all about loving your family and loving your neighbor.

I survived not because of some expert help, it was the kind acts of help when I needed it that gave me strength and courage to carry on. That feeling of being all alone.

Many a time we miss out in helping someone and transforming their lives because we think we are busy or we are full of judgment. If everyone lived according to the parable of the "Good Samaritan' what a mentally healthy world we would be.

10/26/1811:01 PM

Christine Cissy WhiteIt's not trauma-informed unless it's informed by trauma survivors.

David Dooley posted:
"Connection to healthy people is a buffer against stressors."
I wish he had said, "Having great parents is the best buffer against stressors. Therefore we need to develop a new kind of proactive parenting education...one that reaches everyone, everywhere, all the time."

David:
He did talk about how important early childhood is, especially the first two mos. of life and how wise countries that have strong parent leave for parents are. But what's also hopeful is that for kids that don't have those ideal or nurturing connections at home, other nurturing connections count and help and buffer. I agree with those who say all kids are our kids. Cis

10/26/184:50 PM

David DooleyMember

"Connection to healthy people is a buffer against stressors."

I wish he had said, "Having great parents is the best buffer against stressors. Therefore we need to develop a new kind of proactive parenting education...one that reaches everyone, everywhere, all the time."

10/26/182:47 PM

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