Beth Tomlinson challenges a room full of 100 people to imagine her hand is a brain. Her wrist, the brain stem, which controls functions such as breathing and heart rate. Her thumb, the limbic system, which controls emotions and the fight-or-flight response. Her fingers, the cerebral cortex, where thinking and reasoning takes place.
A typical learning brain is like a fist, all pieces working together. But for students who experience trauma — anything from divorced parents to sexual abuse to a parent in jail — it’s more like disconnected fingers. Their brains cannot engage in learning because they are too focused on survival, Tomlinson, the director of education for the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, said.
[To read more of this article by Morning Call reporter Michelle Merlin, go to: http://www.mcall.com/news/brea...-20180319-story.html]
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