3.2 How Early Trauma Affects Brain Development

The human brain begins developing in the womb but is not fully developed at birth, reaching about 95% of its adult size by the age of 6. Both pre-birth trauma (e.g. drug or alcohol use during pregnancy) and post-birth neglect or trauma can affect the healthy development of brains as we have seen in the Attachment module. Traumatic early experiences of poor care can have an impact on a child’s capacity to understand their feelings and the feelings of others. Some children can struggle to control their impulses of anger and upset and can have unexpected temper tantrums.

Teaching professionals do not generally acquire knowledge of attachment and developmental trauma (as covered in a previous module) as part of their training.

Teachers may need additional help from adoptive parents to enable them understand some adopted children’s more complex behaviour in the classroom. An understanding of some of the children’s early experiences can be essential to understand the classroom behaviour of many adopted children, and indeed other children living with similar loss or trauma. It is therefore essential to work with teaching staff to share a parent's insights into these issues and to gain the best outcomes for their child.