CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY
Americas greatest unadressed public health threat
Free Learning: Childhood Adversity & Brain Development
Decolonizing health means understanding what stress and safety actually do to a developing body.
This isn’t just about trauma—it’s about how everyday conditions like housing instability, racism, or underfunded schools shape nervous systems in real time. These resources cut through the noise and show how childhood experiences literally build or break the brain’s architecture. This is core public health knowledge that should’ve never been kept behind paywalls.
One of the clearest, most accessible breakdowns of how early adversity affects lifelong mental and physical health. Great videos, short explainers, and research summaries—especially helpful for understanding toxic stress, resilience, and the science of early development without getting buried in academic speak.
📘 ACES Too High / ACEs Connection
A community-driven site that translates the science of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) into stories, solutions, and policy action. It covers everything from the original ACEs study to current work in schools, prisons, and health systems.
🎓 CDC – ACEs and Toxic Stress
This is the U.S. public health baseline. It explains how early adversity increases the risk of everything from heart disease to substance use—and what systems can actually do to prevent it. Includes simple infographics and data you can share or use in your own work.
🧬 National Scientific Council on the Developing Child – Working Papers
If you want depth without fluff, these papers are written by top developmental scientists and translate core neurobiology, stress physiology, and brain development into plain English. They're free to download and grounded in community relevance, not just clinical theory.
🧠 Jack Shonkoff on Early Stress (Videos)
Dr. Shonkoff is one of the clearest voices in early childhood development science. His short videos explain exactly how stress shapes brain circuits—and what kinds of support can buffer or reverse that impact.
Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE)
Here is a wonderful introduction video to what ACE's are and why they are the biggest unaddressed public health threat facing America today.