What is FASD?
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a diagnostic term used to describe impacts on the brain and body of individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol. FASD is a lifelong disability. Individuals with FASD will experience some degree of challenges in their daily living, and need support with motor skills, physical health, learning, memory, attention, communication, emotional regulation, and social skills to reach their full potential. Each individual with FASD is unique and has areas of both strengths and challenges.
The effects of FASD can vary considerably, which is why it is referred to as a ‘spectrum’. The effects are seldom apparent at birth, and it is often not noticed until the child reaches school age when behavioural and learning difficulties become more evident. In Australia, FASD is underdiagnosed, and often misdiagnosed. It’s estimated that FASD affects between 1% to 5% of the general population, which means it is likely there is a child in every Australian classroom with FASD.
Children and adolescents with FASD experience significant cognitive, behavioural, and learning difficulties, including problems with memory, attention, language and executive function. It’s vital that Australian educators are FASD informed. They can play a vital role in recognising neurodevelopmental concerns, connecting families and health services, and implementing supports in schools to ensure children and adolescents with FASD are supported in their ongoing education.
While there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to working with students with FASD, the “Eight Magic Keys” developed by Deb Evensen and Jan Lutke are useful guidelines that underpin successful strategies and approaches to working with students with FASD. The following information was adapted from a Canadian resource called Making a Difference: Working with students who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders published by the Yukon Department of Education.
| Eight Magic Keys | ||
|---|---|---|
Concrete |
Students with FASD do well when parents and educators talk in concrete terms, don’t use words with double meanings, idioms, etc. Because the social-emotional understanding of students with FASD is often below their chronological age, it helps to “think younger” when providing assistance, giving instructions, etc. | |
Consistency |
Because of the difficulty students with FASD experience trying to generalise learning from one situation to another, they do best in an environment with few changes. This includes language. Teachers and parents can coordinate with each other to use the same words for key phases and oral directions. | |
Repetition |
Students with FASD have chronic short-term memory problems. They forget things they want to remember as well as information that has been learned and retained for a period of time. In order for something to make it to long-term memory, it may simply need to be re-taught and re-taught. | |
Routine |
Stable routines that don’t change from day to day will make it easier for students with FASD to know what to expect next and will decrease their anxiety, enabling them to learn. | |
Simplicity |
Remember to keep it short and sweet. Students with FASD are easily over-stimulated, leading to "shutdown," at which point no more information can be assimilated. Therefore, a simple environment is the foundation for an effective school program. | |
Specific |
Say exactly what you mean. Remember that students with FASD have difficulty with abstractions, generalisation, and not being able to “fill in the blanks” when given a direction. Tell them step-by-step what to do, developing appropriate habit patterns. | |
Structure |
Structure is the “glue” that makes the world make sense for a student with FASD. If this glue is taken away, things fall apart. A student with FASD achieves and is successful because his or her world provides the appropriate structure as a permanent foundation. | |
Supervision |
Because of their cognitive challenges, students with FASD bring a naïveté to daily life situations. They need constant supervision, as with much younger children, to develop habit patterns of appropriate behaviour. | |
References
Alton, H. & Evensen, D. (2006). Making a difference. Working with students who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Government of Yukon. https://www.fasdoutreach.ca/resources/all/m/making-a-difference-working-with-students-who-have-fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorders
Harding, K., Flannigan, K. & McFarlane, A. (2019). Policy action paper: Towards a standard definition of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in Canada. CanFASD. https://canfasd.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Toward-a-Standard-Definition-of-FASD-Final.pdf
May, P. A., Chambers, C. D., Kalberg, W. O., Zellner, J., Feldman, H., Buckley, D., Kopald, D., Hasken, J. M., Xu, R., Honerkamp-Smith, G., Taras, H., Manning, M. A., Robinson, L. K., Adam, M. P., Abdul-Rahman, O., Vaux, K., Jewett, T., Elliott, A. J., Kable, J. A., … Hoyme, H. E. (2018). Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in 4 US Communities. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 319(5), 474–482. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.21896
Wozniak, J. R., Riley, E. P., & Charness, M. E. (2019). Clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Lancet Neurology, 18(8), 760–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30150-4
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