The Far Reaching Affects of FAS

Someone asked me what my personal opinion about FAS was. I definitely agree that this is not considered a true disability most of the time by medical and psychiatric professionals pretty much across the board. I, personally, believe it is very much a true disability and that the effects of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder / Fetal Alcohol Syndrome / Fetal Alcohol Effects (FASD, FAS, FAE) are far reaching affecting many areas of a persons life inclduing decision making skills, intellect, social skills, impulsivity, and many other areas. I think until one encounters the true ramifications of it that there is a lack of understanding. Awareness and education among the medical community is so needed. My 8 year old son is severely FAS and functions at a 2-3 year old level socially, academically etc. He is also impulsive, low IQ, does not know all his letters, shapes, colors, numbers. We work with him one on one with all of these basic things. He struggles with snaps and buttons. The FAS has effects on the person that are far reaching. I think what a lot of people do not understand is just how difficult it can be and that similar to autism that it really is a spectrum disorder with ranges from mild to severe. Even with multiple other problems, we have struggled to get our son the services he needs. The fact that we adopted him does not make much of a difference either to professionals; they just say we are so nice. His speech is rather poor, and he really needs ST badly. I wish we could afford the Rosetta Stone English to help him learn better English skills. My best advice is don't take no for an answer. Keep advocating. Keep looking. Keep asking questions. Most importantly, keep fighting for what your child needs.

Jennifer Richardson RN
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