A Message from McElrath:

Hey Cook County! It is so good to be back with all of you wonderful people doing what we love. Yeah, we have just a few things going on right now, but I can tell you that this is the best school system you could be in during times like these. I am still so excited about our wonderful plans we discussed at the beginning of the year, even though we’ve had to take a pause for a moment. One of those great ideas was this blog where your specialists could share cutting edge ideas with you and we could showcase all the fantastic things going on in special education. I look forward to our journey together this year as the ELITE in Special Education!

Discussions with Dr. Holley: Traumatic Stress in Children & Adolescents

Statistics/Facts-

*In community samples, more than 2/3 of youth acknowledged experiencing a traumatic event by their 16th birthday.

*Estimated that 39-85% of children will witness community violence.

*More than 35% of children exposed to a single traumatic event will develop serious mental health problems.

*For children as young as 18 months, exposure to trauma can lead to social-emotional and behavioral problems that can impede healthy development.

*Annually, over 3 million children are reported to state authorities for child abuse, and approximately 1 million are substantiated.

*Children with disabilities are 2-10 times more likely to be abused or neglected.

*Children are at greatest risk of sexual abuse between ages 7-13 years old.-APA (2008), SAMHSA (2011).

-Terr (2003) defines trauma as "the mental result of one sudden, external blow or a series of blows that render the young person temporarily helpless and break past ordinary coping and defensive operations."

There are 4 characteristics related to childhood trauma-

1. Visualized or repeated perceived memories of the event

2. Repetitive behaviors

3. Trauma-specific fears

4. Changed attitudes about people, life, and the future

Types of Trauma-

*Type I: Single sudden event-Full, detailed memories, "omens," and misperceptions

*Type II: Repeated trauma-Use denial, repression, dissociation, identification with the aggressor, and aggression turn toward one's self; experience an absence of feeling, a sense of rage, and unremitting sadness