Sandy: You bring up a lot of great points. What an important discussion. I'm glad you are here.
I think the original ACE study provides groundbreaking research and data which allows us to consider and talk about childhood adversity - in general, in ways we've not done before as a whole culture. But it's certainly not inclusive of every kind of adversity people experience as children. And if there's too much focus on only the original questions/survey it does skew the conversation in that direction, especially for those not steeped in this work or ACEs science. ACEs science builds upon the original ACEs study/survey but there's lots more we've learned/are learning over the last 20 years.
For me, the ACE survey/score was a great into. to public health data and looking at things at a population level which I'd not done before, at least not in relation to childhood trauma. And that has helped me to think/consider/hear about/learn and listen to so many others, like you, who have similar as well as different experiences, perspectives, and ACEs.
Cissy
P.S. This morning, I was just reading a post by Donna Jackson Nakazawa in Parenting with ACEs. She wrote:
"Other types of childhood adversity include, of course, community violence, poverty, bullying, bickering parents, medical trauma."