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Resources around critiquing the ACEs study/score/framework: a thread!
First, I have to be a good author and plug my forthcoming book. There's a chapter on the pitfalls of using ACEs checklists in education and a call to instead view trauma-informed practice as a universal approach: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393714739
This short piece I wrote in 2018 goes over the gist of it: https://unconditionallearning.org/2018/01/02/letting-go-of-aces-to-support-trauma-affected-students/
Next, I can't recommend this paper from @AlexWinninghoff enough: https://educate.bankstreet.edu/occasional-paper-series/vol2020/iss43/4/ She discusses problems with the ACEs framework & how it can harm already-marginalized communities.
Another overview: listen to @BDPerry talk about some of the problems and limitations with "ACEs science." Jump to about minute 27 for the start of that discussion:
Speaking of @BDPerry , here's some research from him & his research group on understanding developmental adversity beyond an ACEs framework: https://www.psychiatricnursing.org/article/S0883-9417(18)30285-1/abstract
Now let's turn to the specific issue of using the ACEs "checklist" as an individual screening or clinical tool (which Perry discusses above). One of the co-investigators of the original ACE study wrote this saying "don't do that," basically: https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(20)30058-1/fulltext
And more recently, this article looked at how, if you *do* use the ACEs as a screening tool, it's not necessarily a helpful/useful one: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2775420?fbclid=IwAR2b0aqpOvp_Lfz1ofIySzAZDDkwTFQ1FO4YWet6_cJI2WA8jZ2cCUZesgg
This is a great article look at 20 years of ACEs and how the framework is used in the field w/ a critical lens: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jcpp.13135
Finally I would be remiss if I didn't mention folks who are trying to expand and update the ACE framework. Here's a piece on the Racing ACEs gathering: https://acestoohigh.com/2016/10/24/racing-aces-gathering-and-reflection-if-its-not-racially-just-its-not-trauma-informed/
And here is @ResilNation with their "Pair of ACEs" tree (scroll down) http://ccr.publichealth.gwu.edu/
I hope this has been helpful, and let me say one last thing: it's totally OK if you have an emotional connection to the ACE checklist because it was powerful for *you* in understanding trauma. AND...
When we hold realllly tight to frameworks and reject critique of them, we're not learning anymore and we're not helping. Trauma is endlessly complicated and the simplicity of an "ACEs score" can mask that complexity.
So when we explore critiques and complexities beyond the ACEs score, we're expanding our understanding of trauma, which ultimately allows us to show up better for kids and to disrupt the causes of trauma, which is the whole point!
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for reading.
