Optimal Development

A child is most likely to reach her full potential if she experiences consistent, predictable, enriched, and stimulating interactions in a context of attentive and nurturing relationships. Aided by many relational interactions — perhaps mother, father, sibling, grandparent, neighbour and more — young children learn to walk, talk, self-regulate, share, and solve problems.

Every child will face new and challenging situations. These stress-inducing experiences per se need not be problematic. Moderate, predictable stress, triggering moderate activation of the stress response, helps create a capable and strong stress-response capacity, in other words, resilience. The first day of kindergarten, for example, is stressful for children. Those embedded in a safe and stable home base overcome the stress of this new situation, able to embrace the challenges of learning.

Disrupted Development

While most children experience safe and stable upbringings, we know all too well that many children do not.

The very biological gifts that make early childhood a time of great opportunity also make children very vulnerable to negative experiences: inappropriate or abusive caregiving, a lack of nurturing, chaotic and cognitively or relationally impoverished environments, unpredictable stress, persisting fear, and persisting physical threat. These adverse effects could be associated with stressed, inexperienced, ill-informed, pre-occupied or isolated caregivers, parental substance abuse and/or alcoholism, social isolation, or family violence. Chronic exposure is more problematic than episodic exposure.

In the most extreme and tragic cases of profound neglect, such as when children are raised by animals, the damage to the developing brain — and child — is severe, chronic,and resistant to interventions later in life.