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Tag Archives: child abuse

Chronic Childhood Trauma

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by johnjernigan in John Jernigan, My Heart, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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adoption, bear, child abuse, Domestic Violence, health, Life, medical, mental health, News, relationships, science, social work, trauma

My class curriculum includes considerable time spent on trauma-informed care and helping my prospective adoptive families succeed in parenting children who have suffered abuse or neglect. I use the example of a Bear in the Woods (at the 8-minute mark in this Ted Talk video on Childhood Trauma by Dr. Nadine Burke Harris).

Significant damage to the emotional and physical health of children who are exposed to high levels of adversity/trauma occurs over time (chronic trauma). They are more likely to engage in high-risk behavior, and to develop heart disease or cancer. Our brains have a stress response system, in the hypothalamic and adrenal glands, that governs our fight or flight response in a situation. Imagine you’re walking in the forest and you see a bear. Immediately, your brain sends a response to your adrenal glands: Release stress hormones! Adrenal! Cortisol! Your heart starts to pound, your pupils dilate, your airways open up, and you are ready to either fight that bear or run from that bear! And that is wonderful, if you are in the forest, with a bear. The problem is what happens when the bear comes home every night, in the form of domestic violence, or physical abuse, or molestation. This system is activated over and over and over again, and it goes from being life-saving to health damaging. Children are especially sensitive to this repeated stress-activation, because their brains and bodies are just developing. High doses of adversity affect their brain structure and function, their developing immune systems and hormonal systems.

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Bebe’s Kids

05 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by johnjernigan in Funny Shit, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the Flaming Homosexual

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child abuse, crime, education, gay parent, LGBT, lifestyle, medication, parenting, social worker, society, terrorism

image

These kids are are out of control! Why are they so bad? I said “Where is they parent, what is they doing?” and they said “You, you is the parent!” Oh sorry ok then 😳😬

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We The Animals – Justin Torres

05 Wednesday Oct 2016

Posted by johnjernigan in Books Check 'Em Out, My Favorite Things, the Flaming Homosexual

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author, book reviews, books, child abuse, fiction, gay, LGBT, literature, memoir, mental health, reading, writer

image“We  wanted more.  We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped are spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats, we wanted rock.  We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six matching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.

We wanted more flash, more blood, more warmth.

Always more, always hungrily scratching for more. But there were times, quiet moments, when our mother was sleeping, when she hadn’t slept for two days, and any noise, any stair creak, any shut door, any stifled laugh, any voice at all might wake her, those crystal, still mornings, when we wanted to protect her,  this confused goose of a woman, this stumbler, this gusher, with her backaches and headaches and her tired, tired ways, this uprooted Brooklyn creature, this tough talker,  always with tears when she told us she loved us, her mixed up love, her needy love, her warmth, those mornings when sunlight found the cracks in our blinds and laid it self down in crisp strips on our carpet,  those quiet mornings when we’d fix ourselves oatmeal and sprawl onto our stomachs with crayons and paper, with glass marbles that we were careful not to rattle, when  our mother was sleeping, when the air did not smell like sweat or breath or mold, when the air was still and light, those mornings when silence was our secret game and our gift and our sole accomplishment –  we wanted less : less weight, less work, less noise, less father, less muscles and skin and hair. We wanted nothing, just this, just this.”

 

 

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National Adoption Day

22 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by johnjernigan in My Favorite Things, My Heart, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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adoptions, child abuse, fort lauderdale, gay, gay adoption, love, Miami, MSW, National Adoption Day, perspective, point of view, social services, social worker

2r

National Adoption Day was 11/21/14. We had our adoption finalizations at the Miami Children’s Museum, and all of the dependency Judges had their own museum/courtrooms. I only had one little nugget adopted this year.

2q

2p

3a

2u

2s

some of my angels from previous National Adoption Days #sameshirtaslastyear

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Beautiful Baby Boy

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by johnjernigan in My Favorite Things, My Heart, Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

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adoptions, child abuse, culture, gay, gay adoption, inspirational, LGBT, love, MSW, point of view, social worker

kad

I have a new little one on my caseload. He was born healthy and allowed to go home with his mother from the hospital. DCF removed him for failure to thrive nine days later, but irreparable damage was already done. I ask to hold him, and his foster mother places this fragile little bird in my arms, gently reminding me to be careful of the feeding tube in his stomach. I look down at him. His bright blue eyes find mine, and he smiles. Tears well up in my eyes. I think about how negative and unhappy and unproductive I have been in these past two years, complaining about getting old or being lonely, and I am ashamed. This little angel has had a rough life so far, and is lucky to be alive. Seeing his perfect little face smiling up at me, I promise to do my best to find him a forever home and family, who will love him…like I already do.

Kadjohn

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A friend of mine who used to be one of the hard working under appreciated social workers for the State here in Pensacola has written a book now available on Kindle, John Jernigan’s “The Gay Road Less Traveled.” I purchased it tonight to start it, couldn’t out it down, it was so funny. Graphic, real, and hysterical, John’s writing is endearing, funny, smart and if you happen to be drinking coffee, it may shoot out of your nose at some point during one of his vignettes. You can read it on Kindle.

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