Praise – A Double-Edged Sword

 –by Julie Beem I read about some interesting research on praise in an educator’s blog that cited a study done by Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford on praising 5th graders. (These were neurotypical 5th graders, BTW.) The experiment went like this. They gave 400 5th graders a simple puzzle in which everyone did well and […]

Welcome back!

–Laura Dennis, blog manager Welcome back! These are exciting times at ATN! We apologize for the temporary absence of the blog. We have missed you, and hope you feel the same. Thankfully, we are back online and ready and raring to go! This week we are blessed to have Craig Peterson share a great piece on FASD, then later this […]

Special Needs Parenting Can Make You Sick…Literally

Special Needs Parenting

  -by Julie Beem The title probably doesn’t surprise you, but now there is scientific evidence…right down to the cellular level. A study coming out of the University of California-San Francisco compared biological mothers of chronically ill children to those of healthy children. The finding was that those who had chronically ill children had a […]

ATN Board Members visit Capitol Hill

2 ATN Board Members visit with member of Congress

June 2016. Lorraine Schneider, Board President and Sandy Davis, Board Member, along with Julie Beem, ATN’s Executive Director called on many key legislators in Washington DC to discuss the needs of traumatized children and their families and to encourage support of the bipartisan Families First Prevention Services Act, which passed the House while ATN was […]

That Familiar Holiday Rant: “You’ll never be my real family!”

by:  D. Craig Peterson   Six words. For many vulnerable children, they give context to a complicated history.  For many parents who’ve opened their hearts, they cut to the bone. The words unfortunately rear their ugly head, especially during the holidays – when family gatherings are the norm. I know too well. After years of […]

I Believe Therapeutic Parenting Sets the Stage

by:  Julie Beem Every day ATN gets calls and emails from parents struggling to find answers for their children’s behaviors.  These behaviors are the result of early, often chronic, trauma.  Whether the child has experienced abuse, neglect, painful medical procedures or witness violence, these Adverse Childhood Experiences alter the child’s social and emotional development.  They […]

Stop the Madness – Schools Must Be Trauma Sensitive

by:  Julie Beem I knew it — from the first time this photo and story showed up in my Facebook feed.  The security officer forcefully removed a teenage girl from her math class after she had been using her cell phone — by knocking her chair to the ground.  And then I saw an interview […]

I Am Not Alone – Why ATN?

by:   Jane Samuel I found the blue rubber wristlet where I had left it – at the bottom of my tote bag. As a mom and daughter who floats through her days carrying her work with her from home to carpool to cross country meets to piano lessons to visits at the senior citizen […]