Eddie, who is 16 months started at Partners In Learning due to his foster mother, Jane, needing child care while she works. During Jane's initial tour and she began to tell us the trauma Eddie has experienced. During that tour it became obvious that Jane would need the support of the Early Intervention Director and our Family Support Specialist.
"Eddie was left alone without any food, and his mother gave him meth at the age of 14 months because he was talking and whining too much and just wanted him to be quiet. The mother took him to the hospital after he was unresponsive and would not wake up."
While on the visit we were able to talk with Jane about the trauma that Eddie sustained and what those triggers will look like for him. For instance, Eddie is very attached to food and will have a tantrum anytime that he is not allowed to continuously eat. We talked with Jane about how his brain remembers going without food, so anytime Eddie sees food he thinks that he has to eat because he does not know when he will have food again. We also were able to talk with Jane about how Eddie's brain has developed and that attachment has not been formed. For example, even though he cries, he does not want to be soothed. We provided her with tips on how to address food obsession and work on building healthy attachments.
1:10 children experience trauma or other mental health disorder. Our Family Support Specialist works to break the chain of generational trauma so that children like Eddie don't have to suffer.
