ATN Announces New PD Collaborative
The Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) is pleased to launch our Professional Development Collaborative (PD Collaborative), a highly talented group of trauma-informed educational experts available to provide PD training, consultation and support to school districts and organizations embarking on becoming trauma-informed. These professionals embody expertise in all facets of trauma-informed care and systems implementation including: […]
Let’s Thank Our Teachers
Teaching then… Long before COVID-19, social distancing, or mask mandates, we had teachers. Every August, after a few precious weeks of summer and many projects left unfinished, they showed up in empty classrooms to prepare for the new year. They rearranged furniture, made name plates, and decked out bulletin boards for a brand-new set of […]
My Son’s Brain in School
A neuropsychologist said of my oldest son: “His brain is not organized the way the world wants it to be, so he has problems functioning. But he doesn’t have behavior problems. His brain doesn’t do those.” My youngest son also has a brain that doesn’t fit the world he lives in, but his brain does […]
Child Trafficking: How Teachers Can Help
Child trafficking: from victim to advocate In 2019, I found myself in front of an auditorium full of school staff members from 70 Colorado school districts, speaking at a training on how to identify child trafficking. Several years earlier, my therapist had told me, “One day, you will be addressing the systems that failed you. […]
Boys in School
A word about gender Before I talk about boys in school, let me start by acknowledging that gender is complicated. We learn more every day about its many complexities and intricacies. We know, for example, that gender exists on a continuum. Even if we oversimplify and separate people into “boys” and “girls” and the qualities […]
ATN: Why and How to Get Connected
How much do you know about ATN? As a new member of the Attachment and Trauma Network Board of Directors, I have discovered some amazing things. I knew some of this from joining ATN two years ago and speaking at the first two Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conferences. However, joining the board has definitely reinforced it! […]
Vacation, Back-to-School, and Gratitude
Gratitude. I feel it as I sit in front of a softly crackling fire, enjoying the fruity-rich notes of my first cup of coffee as I gaze out on a magnificent Puget Sound seascape. I look forward to another day of adventuring on our last get-away before the school year starts. There is a palpable […]
ATN Wants You . . . To Share Your Story
The Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) seeks bloggers for the “Our Voices” section of our website, a.k.a. the ATN blog. Not sure if your story fits? Read on to learn more. Parents ATN was originally founded by parents, for other parents. We all have stories to tell, and we all need to know we’re not […]
Dear Educator, Part III
Dear educator, Here we are, the last of my three letters about childhood trauma. I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have to say. Here are my last pieces of trauma-sensitive teacher advice. Kids with trauma need teachers to understand that emotional age does not always equal chronological age. From day to […]
Dear Educator, Part II
Dear educator, In my first letter, I shared some things I didn’t know about kids with trauma. In this installment, I would like to share what some of what I have learned. Kids with trauma are just trying to survive Because his brain has been changed by trauma and he feels his very life might […]