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Reply to "Preventing ACEs!"

As a family physician and long time parenting educator, I think this is a simplistic top down solution. It solves the problem from the outside, not the inside. Parents of newborns don't know what they don't know - in fact usually they are pretty confident that they know how to parent... until they struggle- there isn't a big window for taking in new knowledge in their overwhelmed, sleep deprived state. There are other tools we have - that are trauma informed that I believe are more promising. 

- Use home visits for parent support and model attachment tools and teach about development (lots of good studies on this). The key is really training the home support folks in trauma informed practices and cultural practices of the community.

- Work with physicians who care for families - starting with family docs and pediatricians. Help them look for signs of insecure attachment - which, without intervention will get passed down another generation. Include that as a health risk and in the context of the trusted relationship, use the baby to help the parents. Eg. Narrate the baby's feelings, help the family interpret the baby's signal, lift out what happens when the adults are tired, frustrated or disappointed or angry - and help them understand their own brain so that they can be responsive to the baby's needs. (This takes coaching of physicians)

- Use a multi-generation approach. As children enter child care and school, teach them about their brain and use trauma informed tools. Help them develop the social-emotional skills that help them be resilient - and simultaneously create community based parenting groups to offer both support and skills.

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