If you would have asked me in 2008, when I realized we were misdiagnosing trauma as learning disabilities, if I would have been writing this book, I wouldn't have been able to conceive it. Grounded Learning captures the observation, research, and insights gained over the last 12 years on this justice journey. It's a book about stories, stories interrupted. " Trauma unaddressed impacts student learning, multiplied across millions effects a system, unattended into adulthood influences cities...

Before you leave 2020, you may want to learn about this valuable resource. I recently shared presentation at a conference giving some of the highlights of our flagship course The Day Trauma Came to Class. One of the feedbacks I received was from an educator, who said "one of the things that I loved about your presentation is that you acknowledged that educators have stuff too." This is one of the things i love most about the EQ2iQ neuro-gamification resources and that it helps to build, not...

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing the typical check-in on LinkedIn and saw where Lee had shared a post about a gentleman named Dr. Marcus Matthews. Dr. Matthews had released a new book entitled Urban ACEs without thinking and without hesitation I instinctively hit CONNECT. I had a sense we had some of the same ideas. In less than two hours of reaching out, we were on the phone sharing our hearts for students. I then asked Dr. Matthews if he'd like to get online and share, the link below are...

Have you ever seen something that was a bit comical and sad at the same time? That was the video opener for an orientation I participated in recently. In the clip, an African American male is out and about and runs into a friend, who happens to be a Caucasian female. They are attempting to have a conversation but are finding that at every turn they have broached a topic that they “ probably shouldn’t talk about .” After the clip is over, the people participating in the orientation were given...

Greetings, Community - We are all looking for ways to support others during this time. Then, I was reminded of the healing power of story. And decided that one of the ways I thought I might help was to place the Kindle version of my book at .99 cents on Amazon (it would be FREE, but they don't allow for an extended option of that). If you know of someone - parent, friend, or organization that serves others - then this might be of interest. In addition to the Kindle version, the companion...

Have you ever felt you have painted yourself into a corner? Better stated perhaps, find yourself standing in the crosshairs of your own truth. Well, that’s me and here we are. In the last year, I have been going through a rebranding process, still the same heart, still the same mission, but a tweak to messaging and language so it was clear what the work was ultimately about. Simultaneously, I have been stewarding the completion of my book, my own story. Now, here I sit ready to pull the...

Sharing a resource to support school/educator efforts. Not an educator? Share with one. https://mytraumainformedschool.com/aceing-your-parent-student-teacher-conference/

As we celebrate July 4 th , Independence Day, a day typically filled with cookouts, fireworks, parades, and honor of past sacrifices made, my thoughts are drawn to the 1,000’s of classrooms filled with students seeking their own personal independence. Unfortunately, due to the interruption of trauma in childhood, they have become dependent on the maladaptive responses they have acquired in order to mitigate, compensate, cope and survive the impact of the adversity dealt them. Dysregulated...

Living in a World Full of Trigger-Happy People If I type “define trigger happy” in my Google search bar, I read “ ready to react violently, especially by shooting, on the slightest provocation ”. The spectrum or continuum of provocation could range from mild feelings of anxiety to full blown violence as we have witnessed with the most recent school shooting. The young man responsible for what happened in Parkland, FL, did not wake up one morning and decide to go shoot up his classmates at...

Take the Golden Rule to School Rap You don’t have to be like me to be OK, I don’t have to be like you for us to play. Respect my person, I’ll respect yours. If we can appreciate our differences, we may learn something new. Treat me like you want to be treated, Ill do the same for you. (Ramblings in Rhyme by Dr. Ivy)

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you be kind to one another… The second leading cause of death in children 10-18 is suicide. What went wrong? What did someone miss? What could’ve been different? In this situation, a young person was led to hang themselves and attributed it to bullying. They were 15. They had found no value in living because it appeared to them that life had found no value in them. In the last line of the obituary, it read in lieu of flowers, the family ask you be...

I recently read Markowitz and Rosner’s Children, Race, and Power . This book is a recount of Dr.’s Kenneth and Mamie Clark Northside Center in Harlem in the late 1940’s. Their journey while valiant was met with much heartbreak. Fast forward 70 years and it doesn’t appear that much has changed. Dollars continue to be wasted, and the contentment with the status quo and lack of outcomes seems a close resemblance to today. We can say we have the best intentions and well-meaning hearts, but...

Children of poverty and trauma ( subject of one or more ACEs ) show up in classrooms everyday living under the paradigm of the perspective that “ I can’t ”, “ I never will ” – fill in the blank with your own self-defeating message. For all practical purposes, it appears that the “truth” they know or the reality they are living is the only truth that there is to know. Teachers and other caring adults have the ability to shift a child’s perspective, help them see beyond where they have ever...

It’s been ten (10) years since Dr. Bruce Perry published his groundbreaking work , The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog. If you haven’t read his book, especially if you are involved in any trauma-related work, it should be on your next-book-to-read list. In the book, Perry shares a story that involved a child involved in a foster care court case. In Dr. Perry’s recount, he shares that during his years of work in clinics and mental health, he had little introduction to those involved in child...

People from across sectors filled the conference room on Wilmington University’s Dover Campus, Wednesday, December 7, to hear the findings of the Delaware Household Health Survey Data, which included ACEs data from across Delaware. Dr. Leslie Brower, who chairs Trauma Matters Delaware, opened the briefing by welcoming attendees and thanking partner organizations and funders. DPHI Executive Director Francine Axler and Laurel Jones, DPHI project assistant, presented the findings which included...