An adverse childhood experience or ACE is a traumatic or scarring event which happened in one’s childhood that affects them long term or for the rest of their life. Typically, it is caused by parental abuse, neglect, or divorce.
Violence, poverty, and racism can lead into traumatic events that cause adverse childhood experiences. Poverty can lead to the child not having basic needs such as food or shelter, violence can be parental physical abuse or a traumatic injury at a young age. Racism can affect a child by making them victims of hate crimes, racial violence, or the realization that racism and discrimination exists in today’s world.
Adverse childhood experiences could affect literacy by changing the child’s worldview or affecting their ability to learn literacy. The child’s worldview could be changed by racism, which could change the way they interpret literature. Poverty could affect the child’s learning of literacy by restricting the availability of good education and sponsors of literacy.
