Dr. Bessel van der Kolk told a story of Noam whose school was near the Twin Tower of the WTC in New York City and saw the first plane slam into the tower during the infamous September 11th, 2001. Next day, Noam drew what he had witnessed including seeing people jumping to their death. But, he added a trampoline at the bottom of the tower because, Noam said, next time people would have to jump, it would keep them safe. Noam experienced terrible trauma. But the support of his family & his creative imagination prevented him from experiencing PTSD. He used his imagination to create a different future which helped him move forward with his life. Art helps Noam express his imagination & cope with terrible trauma.
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According California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris’ research, kids who had experienced severe trauma were 32 times more likely to be diagnosed with learning and behavioral problems than kids who had not.
- We believe all children are naturally creative.
- We believe each child should have an art canvas with them to draw or to doodle for self-expression or for therapeutic purpose.
- We believe that their creativity should be on display for the world to appreciate their works of art, at the same time, to boost their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Hien, an 11-year old kid, created Simon, 3-in-1 erasable writable healing backpack: a portable art canvas, a mobile art gallery, and a backpack for kids to create art on the go. Being able to draw their feeling is a start of the recovery process. Using their imagination to create a different future will help them cope with & control the terrible traumas in order to have thriving, happy, meaningful lives. The arts on their backpacks are for showcasing their creativity, are good conversation starter & are helpful in building their self-esteem & self-confidence.
Notable numbers
In the US, approximately 12.5% of children 0-17 years old has ACEs score of 4 or more. That’s a bit more than 9 millions children (out of 73.7 millions).
According to Dr. Felitti (co-author of the ACEs study with the CDC), If your ACE score is 4:
- 3600% more likely to become injection drug (ie: heroine) user.
- 1200% greater likelihood of attempting suicide as an adult (2900% at ACE of 6).
- 1200% more likely to be a sexual assault victim.
- 1000% more likely to inject street drugs.
- 700% more likely to become an alcoholic.
- 600% more likely to have sex before age 15.
- 500% more likely to have multiple marriages.
- 400% greater likelihood of emphysema or chronic bronchitis.
- 300% more likely to contract HIV.
- 300% more likely to become a domestic violent victim (women); 150% (men).
- 300% greater likelihood of struggling with chronic depression.
- 240% greater risk of hepatitis.
- 240% higher risk of sexually transmitted disease.
- 200% more likely to become smokers.
- 200% greater likelihood of severe obesity.
- 150% more likely to have heart disease.
- 51% of ACE score of 4 will have behavioral problems in school.
Art Therapy & Trauma
How Expressive Art Could Help.
“It is so difficult to put the complexities of the trauma recovery process into words—artwork does this much better!” – Joan Turkus, M.D.
Art has been used successfully as a form of therapy because art helps kids unmask the traumas buried in the subconscious minds.
“Drawing makes me feel better,” Xavier, who grew up in the project of Philadelphia where violence is a part of live, said. “When I’m mad, I draw my anger, and I just get happy.” Kids also can draw what their hopes look like which raise their HOPE score.
When kids with high ACEs score get help early on, they can control & manage the risks mentioned above.
Art Therapy & Autism
How Expressive Art Helps Autistic Children.
“I have noticed that children with autism think in pictures,” according to art therapist Theresa Van Lith.
“So it’s a natural progression, then, to use the visual arts to communicate what’s going on in their world.”
Art therapy can help with social skills.
Art therapy can address Sensory Processing Disorder.
Drawing or doodling can be calming when stress or anxiety is overwhelming.
Boost kids' self-confidence, self-esteem, & working memory by creating art on Simon.
Kids are not doing well in school? Having a bad working memory sometimes is the problem. Get them Simon to draw/doodle on at least 20 minutes a day can boost working memory, self-esteem, & self-confidence. Kids spend too much time on electronic devices? Give them Simon & let them have fun drawing to express their imagination. Aspire to be a great leader? Doodle/draw on Simon to help boost creativity, which is the #1 quality in a great leader (according to a survey of thousands of great leaders around the world) Want to be original and unique? The art you create on Simon is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind. No other backpack in the world has the same design art on it as yours. It's erasable; so you continue to have one-of-a-kind design art on it. Simon guarantees it!
Some testimonials from parents
“Every kids should have one as a standard.”,”That’s a wonderful idea.”, “Wow, the inventor is 11 years old?”, “He’s a genius. You must be a proud father.”, “I will buy online.”, “I like this, very clever.”, “I like the markers. I just want those for my windows at home.”, “My kids will have a great time expressing themselves on these backpacks.”, “It’ll boost their creativity.”, “My Big Lad is saving the Chalkwild backpack for when he starts high school in September. I am sure it will be a great tool for helping him to learn to plan and organize more things for himself and become more independent.”, “I was recently introduced to a new form of Art Therapy that absolutely blew me away! Imagine having everything you need to create, erase, and repeat with you all the time. The Chalk Wild Backpack is just that! Let’s check it out!”
The support we get from our community is awesome!
Supporting letter from
US Congressman Josh Harder
Supporting letter from
US Congressman Josh Harder
Stanislaus County Office Of Education
Monthly Newsletter
Featured in October 2019 issue of
The Modesto Bee
We have wholesale pricing for you when you purchase 10 or more backpacks.
(Email us for more information)
The children who will benefit from this healing backpack often cannot afford them. We are fortunate to have Community Foundation of San Joaquin as our Fiscal Sponsor. So, we now can apply for public and private grants to bring these healing backpacks to high ACEs children. Your corporate donation is now tax deductible as well. Please help ameliorate the lives of children suffering from childhood traumas.
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