College hosts thought-provoking event to raise awareness of the impact of adverse childhood experiences
Ayrshire College’s Kilmarnock Campus recently hosted ACEs Ayrshire’s latest event, ‘Care2Care: Learning Voices’.
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are defined as traumatic events in early childhood, such as abuse, neglect, witnessing domestic violence, and growing up with family members who abuse alcohol or drugs.
ACEs Ayrshire is a group for people interested in supporting the wellbeing of young people in education through a trauma informed approach.
Their event opened with a message from Dr Suzanne Deedyk, a leading national figure in this approach. This was followed by a screening of ‘Resilience’ – a documentary which looks at the science behind ACEs and how they can alter a person’s brain development, leading to major health and behavioural complications.
James Docherty of the Violence Reduction Unit was the keynote speaker, and former Ayrshire College Vice Principal Jackie Galbraith, who is now Principal of West Lothian College, both delivered presentations on the ACEs work they are involved in.
A panel of guest speakers then offered their insights into ACEs and held a question and answer session for the audience. The panel included:
Kirsty Aitken – Children 1st
Kevin Brown – Fit Ayrshire Dads
James Docherty – Violence Reduction Unit
Jackie Galbraith – West Lothian College
John McCormack – Scottish Recovery Network
Ruth Miller – East Ayrshire Psychological Services
John Bell – former Ayrshire College student now studying at Glasgow University
The audience was made up of a wide range of practitioners and students who were encouraged to discuss the way forward in developing trauma informed practice in a variety of learning and educational settings.
James Docherty of the Violence Reduction Unit said “We need to get it right for the parents in order to get it right for the children, because adversity does not happen in a vacuum.”
16 April 2019
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