By Tom Jordan ? letters to the editor
I have just now had the opportunity to read Cynthia Parkhill”s commentary printed in the Record-Bee on May 5 concerning the ACE questionnaire that we are asking all Lake County residents over the age of 18 to take.
You have made an excellent point with respect to the question on physical abuse experienced by one”s peers outside of the home environment. Having heard Dr. Felitti speak on adverse childhood experiences (ACE), I believe that he would also agree that ACE is not limited to the home or family situation. Dr. Felitti intended the questions to be open to self-interpretation. If one were to simply read the question on physical abuse as, “As a child did you experience physical abuse?” and the emotional pain of bullying resonated within you, then this marker would apply to you.
I recall that Dr. Felitti noted his discussion with the wife of one of the children buried in the bus in southern California, I think in the late ”70s. She noted that her husband displayed many of the health risk behaviors. Dr. Felitti readily acknowledges that this would qualify as an ACE for experiencing a catastrophic event.
I also think that Dr. Felitti would not be rigorous in the age limit of 18. I am thinking of many of our veterans that have returned or are returning from war situations and are subsequently identified with post-traumatic stress syndrome. The relationship between this syndrome as an outcome of an adverse childhood (in this case, earlier life) experience would seem to be strong.
I trust your readers will follow your recommendation to take the survey so that they might better understand themselves and be more sensitive to their friends and colleagues that may indeed be carrying within them adverse childhood experiences. The path to healing will occur most easily if we as a community validate these experiences and support those who have and are enduring them.
Tom Jordan
Staff ? First 5 Lake Commission
