What’s your ACE score?

The Mind Blowing Test No One Knows About: ACE is an informational workshop of a little known study that correlates the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) with lifelong health. The workshop will be held on Sunday, March 15^th from 1 to 4 p.m. at Mobius, 55 Norfolk Street in Cambridge.

The ACE Study – done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente – isn’t new but it’s newsworthy.

According to Dr. Vincent J. Felitti, co-principal author, ACE scores “….turn out to be strong predictors of what happens later in life in terms of health risks…. in terms of disease and premature mortality.”

Margaret Bellafiore and Christine Cissy White are shocked by and fascinated with the ACE study and test. They are co-hosting this free workshop to discuss both. Creative ACE inspired visuals will spark discussion and the 10-question test available to take (or take home) for those who want to know their personal ACE score.

“I didn’t believe it, at first,” said Bellafiore, an educator and artist, “The ACE score can predict adult depression?! Diabetes?! Arthritis?!” 

“I mean, people are dying up to two decades too soon with high ACE scores like mine,” said White, a writer and activist.”

“I didn’t survive a horrible childhood so it could kick my ass now.

Ace Body Art by Margaret Bellafiore Photo by Christine Cissy White

Bellafiore and White want healthier, happier, longer and less fearful lives for themselves and others. They hope attendance triggers awareness, activism and self-care.

White has interviewed Carol A. Redding, ACE Study Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2003-2006) and survivor of extensive childhood abuse and neglect. White wants to know what those with high ACE scores can do to improve health. Redding shared ideas, research and suggestions which will be shared.

“Knowledge is power,” said Redding, “If you apply it – it makes you stronger…It empowered me to think about what happened to me in childhood…I didn’t put it together (what happened in childhood and health). I’m still putting it together. I gradually became less afraid…healthier and happier.”

To find out more about the study and test, which is free and available online, see the CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/

Margaret Bellafiore is a Mobius Artist Group member (www.mobius.org) and professor at Bridgewater State University (BSU) where she teaches an Art as Activism class. She became interested in the subject of trauma when she interviewed returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan to college life for her sound installation at Mobius, “Combat to Campus, the Voices of Veterans.” She wrote about this experience for the American Association of University Professors. (http://www.aaup.org/article/combat-campus#.U9_isvldWSp).

Christine Cissy White writes extensively about post-traumatic stress, developmental trauma and trauma recovery. She has been published in the Boston Globe, Spirituality & Health and Elephant Journal. Her website, www.healwritenow.com includes memoir, profiles and research about adult life after childhood trauma. Her writing has been shared online by Ms. Magazine, Belleruth Naparstek, Rick Hanson, Sebern Fisher and the Rape and Incest National Network (RAINN).

Bellafiore and White collaborated on “Body Language, an interactive installation exploring the impact of trauma” at Mobius last year, which is how they learned about the ACE study, test and score. A review of that show is here http://www.suzilooksatart.com/?p=1361

For more information, contact:

Margaret Bellafiore, 781 331 0711, [email protected]
Christine Cissy White, 781-331-4679, [email protected], www.healwritenow.com