FASD Elephant™ Podcast & Blog

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

People with FASD (including FAS) have both primary and secondary disabilities. Secondary disabilities are those disabilities that arise because of a mismatch between the brain damage and factors in the environment--they are not directly caused from the brain damage.

Streissguth, et al (1996) conducted a four year study on the secondary disabilities of 415 individuals with FASD and found six secondary disabilites:

1. Mental Health Problems - 90% of the 415 had mental health conditions of any type; 61% had ADHD and more than 50% had depression.
2. Disrupted School Experiences - Over 60% had disruptions in school... from suspensions to drop-out.
3. Trouble with the Law - 60% had trouble with the law, with shoplifting and theft the most common crime.
4. Confinement - 50% had been confined, either incarcerated, inpatient mental health hospitalization, or inpatient chemical dependency treatment.
5. Inappropriate Sexual Behavior - 49% had displayed inappropriate sexual behavior, most common was sexual advances, sexual touching, and promiscuity.
6. Alcohol and Drug Problems - 35% had chemical abuse problems.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

People with FASD (including FAS) have both primary and secondary disabilities. Primary disabilities are those with which the person is born, such as seizures, sensory integration problems, etc. These are a direct result of the brain damage from prenatal alcohol exposure, and the topic of today's podcast.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

Sorry folks, but I have laryngitis this week. Tune in next Wednesday for the next installment of the FASD Elephant Podcast.

In the meantime, I found an interesting website from Germany that has an animated FAS Facial Feature program, in which you can manipulate the various FAS Facial Features and visually compare them to an unaffected face. The program also allows for other facial features that are sometimes common to FASD, but not diagnostic.

The website link is: http://www.fasworld.de/index.htm, and the main website (mostly in German) is http://www.fasworld.de (look for the "Baby Face Animation" link toward the bottom of the page).

Also, I am sending though a PDF File of the FASD Evaluation Checklist discussed in last week's podcast #009 (September 19, 2007).

Today's podcast reviews the Ten Brain Domains of FAS and FASD in a little more depth; it is still an overview but gives more flesh to the domains in the context of completing an FASD Wheel.

This is the third of a multi-part series edited from a workshop on the FASD Wheel (TM) presented at the 2007 Brain Conference on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Mahnomen, MN... one of the largest annual conferences held in Minnesota.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

Today's podcast reviews brain functioning and how it can be affected by FASD.

This is the second of a multi-part series edited from a workshop on the FASD Wheel (TM) presented at the 2007 Brain Conference on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Mahnomen, MN... one of the largest annual conferences held in Minnesota.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

Today's podcast reviews useful metaphors and non-useful misattributions regarding FASD. This is the first of a multi-part series edited from a workshop on the FASD Wheel (TM) presented at the 2007 Brain Conference on the White Earth Indian Reservation in Mahnomen, MN... one of the largest annual conferences held in Minnesota. See www.FASDElephant.com for more details.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

This week, I am sending the original article on the Ten Brain Domains from the Journal of FAS International for your review. The regular audio podcast will return next week.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.

1. Achievement,
2. Adaptive behavior,
3. Attention,
4. Cognition,
5. Executive functioning,
6. Language,
7. Memory,
8. Motor skills,
9. Sensory integration and soft neurological problems, and
10. Social communication.

These domains are reviewed in the podcast and will be further expanded upon in future podcasts.

Feedback or comments may be sent to: Michael__at__FASDElephant__dot__com.