Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the Classroom

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Fetal Alcohol Syndromein the Classroom

• Sarah Dukes and Thomas

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What is FASD?

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
• pattern of growth deficiencies, craniofacial
  malformations and central nervous system
  dysfunction that can occur in babies whose
  mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy

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Prevalence

• Health Canada estimates that 9 in every 1000
  babies born in Canada have FASD
• the most prevalent preventable cause of mental
  disability and has been identified as one of the
  leading known causes of birth defects and
  developmental delays

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Symptoms

• Behavioural, social, emotional, and cognitive
  problems
• Commonly misdiagnosed
• Each student is unique with their own strengths
  and weaknesses

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FASD Overview

• Memory problems (storage and retrieval)
• Abstract reasoning problems - they are much
  better at expressive than at receptive language
  (comprehension)
• Performance is inconsistent, giving others the
  impression that they are unmotivated or lazy

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FASD Overview

• process information more slowly than their peers
• difficulty with abstract math concepts, money
  management, and time concepts
• achievement and social skills much lower than
  expected given their generally average IQs

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FASD Overview

• Not diagnosed - blamed for their problems, and
  feel at fault, although they do not really
  understand why
• Secondary problems - depression, suicidal
  tendencies, anxiety, panic attacks, irritability,
  frustration, anger, aggression, lying, running
  away, legal trouble, and substance abuse.

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FASD Students in the Classroom

• Refer for services to obtain the necessary extra
  support
• secondary problems are just as detrimental as the
  primary ones, although they are typically ignored
  
• The FASD teen cannot progress academically or
  vocationally without addressing concerns related
  to problems such as depression, anxiety,
  difficulty coping with emotions, anger outbursts,
  and drug or alcohol abuse

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FASD in the Classroom

• Student aide - can serve as an intermediary to
  listen to both the student, about problems she
  may be experiencing with different teachers or
  ways of instruction, and to teachers about
  concerns they may have or comments about what
  works well.
• Peer support - learn about age- appropriate
  social interactions, making friends, and learning
  communication skills.

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Tips for Teachers

• Provide instructions in short, slow segments and
  to say exactly what you mean
• They do not understand humour or sarcasm
• Provide many concrete examples of the concepts
  being taught and, if possible, to present the
  information in many different modalities

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Tips for Teachers

• Break things down into small steps
• Have difficulty coping with change
• Wont respond well to an overly controlling
  environment

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Tips for Teachers

• Focus on memory tasks repetition is key
• Inability to learn from previous behaviour
• Social skills training
• Positive feedback!