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Actor/comedian Darrell Hammond fondly recalls his first taste of show business at age five practicing the impressions of his family members on the porch of their home in Melbourne Florida. A Native of Florida, Darrell began doing his impressions and comedy early on in life, but his real pursuit of a career in performing began after graduating from the University of Florida at Gainesville. After college, Hammond spent several years in New York appearing in many off-Broadway productions and honing his stand up at the local comedy clubs. During a surprise appearance with President Bill Clinton, Hammond was widely praised by the media for his dead-on impression of the President at an event before a great number of government officials and members of the Washington Press Corps.

Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

When I was 14 years old, my mother opened the door for me to answer honestly about the rumors she had heard about Gary Goddard — who was my mentor, teacher and friend — To face that truth was not an option as my sense of self was completely enmeshed in my gang of five friends who were all led by this sick father figure. One of the most tragic effects of sexual abuse in children is that the victims often feel deeply responsible — as if it is somehow their fault. Secrecy, shame and fear are the tools of abuse, and it is only by breaking the stigma of childhood sexual abuse that we can heal, change attitudes, and create safer environments for our children.

ACS does not have available numerical data on child abuse cases over the last month and a half as it’s dependent on the state Office of Children and Family Services, the agency that logs tips of suspected abuse around New York. In Texas, there were six cases of child abuse in one week reported at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, with one of those cases resulting in death. Dr. Jamye Coffman, the medical director at the Cook’s Children Hospital, told NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, it usually sees eight cases in a month. Grimm, who normally sees at least two cases of suspected child abuse cases a week and is currently conducting tele-health examinations, said she’s received no reports on child abuse for the last month, an indication that mandatory reporters are crucial to filing child abuse claims.