This book, like last week’s book, discusses “Adverse Childhood Experiences,” which is a set of 10 questions that assess the level of trauma kids experience. These questions focus on exposure to mental illness, addiction, abandonment, hunger, physical abuse or danger, sexual assault, and imprisonment. Studies have found that about a third of students in the US have experienced at least two of these ten types of trauma. Perhaps it’s too obvious to point out that these experiences influence our students’ receptivity to learning — even in college. As Lost Connections points out, these childhood experiences have mental health implications that extend into adulthood.
Gross, Karen. Breakaway Learners: Strategies for Post-Secondary Success with At-Risk Students. Teachers College Press, 2017, p. 79.