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Developmental trauma impacts 2 out of 3 people at some level.
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The mission of LucidWitness is to grow awareness about trauma during childhood, or “developmental trauma.” This includes the impacts on the physical architecture of the brain and how the brain functions, leading to devastating lifelong effects.
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Roughly 70% of the parents in our school’s neighborhood are not familiar with the concept of developmental trauma, nor its wide prevalence, nor its deep impacts in the classroom, nor the lifelong consequences for their children.
Grow awareness, grow awareness, and grow awareness:
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LucidWitness is organized in three unique series :
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“Nowhere to Hide”
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“Peek Inside a Classroom”
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“Click for Resources”
All the narratives from LucidWitness are about real kids (with pseudonyms) who are trauma-impacted. These are not “combined” or imaginary narratives, nor caricatures.
Most of these children lived in the same neighborhood. All were in my classroom. More than half were in the same classroom, in the very same year! Difficult to imagine…
I live in the community with them and their families; I know them personally as students, neighbors and friends.
Several children appear more than once across the series of narratives. You will see ‘Roberto’, ‘Danny’, ‘Jasmine’, ‘Ashley’, and ‘Jamar’ multiple times, intentionally, at different levels of depth.
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“Nowhere to Hide”
To read an overview written by an “ignorant and frustrated teacher” click HERE:
“Nowhere to Hide” series links
Each separate, individual article in the series focuses on a single component of the workings of developmental trauma, via real life examples in short “60 second” soundbites, akin to “Public Service Announcements” (PSAs). They are designed for sharing in social media networks to grow public awareness.
Trigger warning:
The children’s experiences in the vignettes are unvarnished. Their traumatic responses may trigger painful memories.
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“PSA” Links for social media
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Nowhere to Hide: Maria; Fight, flight or freeze
Nowhere to Hide: Andre’s Fear; What are Adverse Childhood Experiences?
Nowhere to Hide: Jamar’s Hyper-arousal
Nowhere to Hide: Roberto’s Dissociation
Nowhere to Hide: Danny’s Memory
Nowhere to Hide: Ashley’s “Normal” Education? Part 1
Nowhere to Hide: Ashley’s “Normal” Education? Part 2
More to come
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“Like” us at “Trauma-Informed Schools” on Facebook
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Please share a PSA link to help grow public awareness of the impacts of developmental trauma. There are so many of us who’ve never heard of the overpowering life-long impacts.
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“Peek Inside a Classroom” series overview
The second original series, “Peek Inside a Classroom”, provides much more detailed looks inside my classroom, primarily focused on specific students: Jasmine, Danny and José.
Other children are captured in broader looks at education reform concepts: “Failing Schools or Failing Paradigm?” and “Effective Education Reform”, co-authored with Sandra L. Bloom, M. D..
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“Peek Inside a Classroom” series links
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Peek Inside a Classroom: Jasmine
Peek Inside a Classroom: Danny
Peek Inside a Classroom: Failing Schools or Failing Paradigm?
Peek Inside a Classroom: Effective Education Reform (with Sandra Bloom, M.D.)
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“Click for Resources…” series overview:
“Click for Resources” posts are the theory and research behind the narrative posts in “Nowhere to Hide” and “Peek Inside a Classroom”.
Each post in “Click for Resources “ is divided in three parts:
1) general press articles,
2) Research Journals or academic papers
3) social media, often with video.
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“Click for Resources” series links:
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1. Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Studies: CLICK HERE
2. Impacts of Childhood Trauma: Overview CLICK HERE
Click for Resources: Social Media on Impacts of Childhood Trauma
Click for Resources: Journal Articles on Impacts of Developmental Trauma
3. Trauma-Informed Schools CLICK HERE
4. Trauma-Informed Social Services CLICK HERE
5. Trauma-Informed Juvenile Justice CLICK HERE
6. Trauma-Informed Public Policy CLICK HERE
7. Childhood Trauma Training and Tools CLICK HERE
8. Book and Publication selections CLICK HERE
9. #800 phone numbers CLICK HERE
Developmental trauma, still “the elephant in the [class] room” for many adults.
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“Like” us at “Trauma-Informed Schools” on Facebook
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LucidWitness.com 
Hello Daun,
Congratulations on publishing this index to LucidWitness –a very helpful guide and also a testament to all the work you have done to promote greater awareness and understanding of trauma.
If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to share this with Carolyn Smith Brown so it gets posted on ACEs Connection, or do so directly yourself.
Hope to see you soon–wondering if you’ll make the meeting tomorrow.
Warmly,
Diane
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Hi Diane! Thank you for the kind words. I put together the “Index” (like several of my best pieces) at the request of a reader, this time the request of a Training Consultant in Alaska(!). Several school districts have hinted at the same thing but were too shy to verbalize it. I’ve also been told that there may be a book here.
As things stand presently I do think I will be able to be at PATF tomorrow. 🙂
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THANK YOU!
Lynda Rubin
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Daun, thank-you for your wonderful work. You are a gift that keeps on giving! I use your video & references in my SPED classes often and they have made an impact on my pre-service teachers.
Thanks again,
Joan Grim
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Wow! Thank you so much for the kind words Joan! I appreciate your program’s inclusion of Developmental Trauma as a key concept for pre-service study. Would that be the University of Tennessee ?
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