Louder Than Silence

In 1968, Dr. Krugman witnessed his first case of child abuse when a mother brought a baby into a Denver emergency room claiming the child stopped breathing at some point during a movie. Dr. Krugman and his colleagues discovered that not only was the baby deceased, but he was also severely beaten and injured. Dr. Krugman outlines the interactions the mother and the baby had with hospital, public health, police, and social services professionals in the months before the baby’s death – and how 25 of those professionals failed at providing the mother with support and the baby with protection.

The Louder than Silence podcast is brought to you by The National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN).

Links

• A Good Knight For Children: C Henry Kempe’s Quest to Protect the Abused Child by Annie Kempe
• The Battered Child Syndrome research paper
• The Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect

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In this episode, Lori Poland is once again joined by fellow survivor, Jon Vaughn. To change things up, Jon interviews Lori about her experiences as a survivor.
The Louder than Silence podcast is brought to you by the National Foundation to End Child Abuse and Neglect (EndCAN): www.endcan.org
Episode Takeaways:

• What made Lori write her book? “When we are survivors, there is a developmental process, and my sentences became paragraphs, and then a book. It is one of the faces of survivorship – we start as a victim, then move out of that phase and transition into survivorship and then into being a thriver and then when you’re through finding ‘your own’, you transition to transcender.”
• The title is, “I Live Here” which details her life story, starting with her kidnapping at the age of 3. When she was found by rescuers at the bottom of an outhouse toilet, she told them, "I live here."
• Children do not know what normal is, so what they are experiencing may seem normal to them without realizing it is abuse.
• The narrative of her story was only what she had been told by family, and it was their story, not her's. Every time she was interviewed publicly, they accused her making parts of the story up and the more this happened, the more she did research and saw details that she was not aware of. Their narrative and her experience were not the same.
• The history of books is “his” story in everyone’s own perspective. And, you have to own your perspective and truth and defend it.
• It’s okay to not have a family in the way most people envision. You’re going to have family that will never leave because they are touched by your story.
• Always take time for yourself; wounds don’t heal in a day.
• We have to be able to say no, to society, to parents, to abusers, to anyone trying to hurt you.

Quotes of the Show:

• "Transcenders are people who turn around and give it back. "
• "Don’t be concerned about people talking, be concerned when they aren’t."

Links:
Lori's book, "I Live Here" - https://endcan.org/2022/07/11/lori-poland-memoir/

Kevin Peterson is an expert in the correlation of substance abuse and child abuse. In this podcast, Kevin talks about the steps and shares, "The 12th step is 'carry the message'!"
His childhood was overshadowed by his mom's hidden prescription drug abuse, and they, as children, were taught to lie to cover for her.
By the age of 13, he himself was drinking and using drugs, and he liked it. At the age of 26, his father told him they loved him but were done. His parents were making a change, and that meant, he was out.
On May 5, 1991, he got sober and has been ever since. In 2007, he had a midlife crisis, got out of sales and decided he wanted to change the world.
He graduated college in 2011 and started his own practice where he works with families who are struggling with addiction. And that, involves kids - direct and overtly or indirect and covertly.
In his work, he helps people once they are sober and need to deal with the "stuff".
Takeaways from this podcast:

• It is not our job to be perfect; it is our job to own our imperfections and model healing, growth and a willingness to improve.
• Showing children how to take responsibility for your behavior and actions, how to take care of yourself and how to acknowledge when you’ve made a mistake.
• Being perfect is a waste of time; they’re watching you. If they’re watching you get high all day, they’re going to get high all day.
• Starts with consistency, level of expectation how to treat each other. Everyone has a voice. Kids need a witness, they need someone there.
• Your kid really just wants to hang out with you.

Kevin has authored the book, "Chronic Hope: Families and Addiction"
Resources: www.chronichope.us

In this episode, Lori Poland is joined by Keri Richmond, a changemaker, storyteller, and advocate for children and families.
Through her work in Washington, DC, Keri champions the power of lived experience, engaging in substantive policy expertise on child welfare and health issues. Her influence extends to the halls of Congress and the White House, where she passionately shares recommendations for systemic change.
CEO and founder of Keri Hope CO and a founding executive director of Unbelievably Resilient, Keri orchestrates strategic plans that leverage authentic storytelling to reshape perceptions of foster care.

She believes, the narrative being told splits everyone rather than nurtures the community as “one”. And, she believes in the power of relationships to build resilience and heal. She wants to reignite the passion to reform systems in place.

Keri shares her thoughts on the assumption that someone else is going to help – the bystander effect. That happens a lot that someone else is going to help in this field; everyone can do something. There is power in just showing up!

Lori and Keri talk about “mattering” and the power of connections. Who in your life showed up for you when you needed them?

Resources:

Keri Hope Website

Keri Richmond Instagram

Keri Richmond LinkedIn

In this episode, Lori is joined by Tanya and Lauren. This is an open and frank discussion on sex offenders and sexual offenses.