In this episode, presented at the Siskiyou County Office of Education Symposium in Weed, California, Ce gives a quick, brain-based “why” behind Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), better described as Complex Developmental Trauma, and how it plays out in real-life classroom dynamics. Teachers will want to listen to this.
Children who have experienced early trauma don’t walk into the classroom with a clean slate—they carry the invisible weight of broken trust, disrupted attachment, and survival-mode nervous systems. When those early experiences hardwire the brain for protection rather than connection, the resulting behaviors can look defiant, manipulative, oppositional… or just plain exhausting to manage.