Optimum Learning Environments for Traumatized Children—How Abused Children Learn Best in School

A great deal of attention has been given to our educational system and much of it has not been complementary. Issues such as student progress, drop out rates, competencies in math, science and geography have all been the source of criticism and concern. National initiatives have been implanted with reviews that have been more negative than positive. Some have gone as far as to say that our public educational system in the United States is in chaos. However, one area that has received little or no attention has been the ability of our educational system to meet the needs of children who are living with the effects of trauma in their past or present. Some might say that the attention given to special needs children through special education services should address these children. However, special education attempts to cover a host of causes related to learning difficulties and most of the time services focus only on the symptoms rather than on the problems themselves.
Handicapping conditions that are observable such as blindness, physical disability, deafness, autism, and even dyslexia are much better understood in educational settings than emotional disturbances and learning disabilities that come from trauma in the child’s life. For these children the answer is often a referral to the school counselor for the emotional issues that cannot be addressed in class. But this separation of the emotional and the academic challenges faced by traumatized children is not getting the job done. A child cannot compartmentalize emotions, thoughts, and behaviors as some adults can. The whole child comes into the classroom and either succeeds or fails based upon whether all aspects are engaged in the learning process rather than impeding it.

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