The FASD Success Show

Mary Byrnes set out to understand her son, Harrison. Along the way, she began to understand herself differently, too.

In this conversation, Mary shares what changed as she connected her own experiences with FASD: the self-blame she had carried, the misunderstandings in her marriage, and the support she learned to ask for. We talk about her book, Everything Clicks, and why understanding what FASD is does not automatically mean understanding what it is like to live with it.

Mary also shares the work of Harrison’s Hope and why support needs to continue into adulthood.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• Self-compassion: Understanding herself differently after years of self-blame.
• Everyday support: Conversations about money, marriage and asking for help.
• Autonomy and help: Making room for support while preserving choice and dignity.
• Lived experience: The difference between knowing about FASD and understanding what it feels like to live with it.

Resources and Links

Mary’s book, Everything Clicks:
https://harrisonshope.ca/resources

Harrison’s Hope:
https://harrisonshope.ca

Connect with Mary

Mary offers a free virtual author Q&A to book club groups that select Everything Clicks as their chosen book. Email [email protected] to arrange it.

Find Your Caregiver Community

Join our free FASD caregiver Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDFOREVER

Support the show

When Rob Scheer entered foster care at twelve, he carried his belongings in a trash bag. Years later, when children arrived at his own home carrying trash bags, he asked a question that became the heart of Comfort Cases: “How about some dignity?”

Rob is a former foster youth, U.S. Navy veteran, adoptive dad, author, speaker, and the founder of Comfort Cases. In this conversation, he shares what foster care, homelessness, parenting, and building a family taught him about belonging.

Jeff and Rob talk about behaviour as communication, the moments when a child’s behaviour hurts even when you understand the why, and the importance of separating the person from what is happening in the moment. They also talk about the danger of letting a diagnosis, a file, or somebody else’s prediction become the whole story.

This is not a conversation that promises an easy path. It is a conversation about dignity, staying connected, and continuing to see the person when systems only see the problem.

Resources mentioned in this episode

Comfort Cases
https://comfortcases.org/

Learn about hosting a Comfort Cases packing party
https://comfortcases.org/packingparty/

Volunteer, host a donation drive, or support Comfort Cases
https://comfortcases.org/volunteer/

Contact Comfort Cases about speaking, partnerships, or bringing the work to your area
https://comfortcases.org/contact/

Rob’s memoir, A Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time
https://comfortcases.org/more-ways-to-support-us/

Listen to Rob’s Fostering Change podcast
https://comfortcases.org/podcasts/

Watch Rob and Reece in Somewhat Familiar, Season 1, Episode 5: Foster Families
https://tv.apple.com/us/episode/foster-families/umc.cmc.65ir2q0datcn490zoe79z3s02?showId=umc.cmc.1onsp08upednzqqu3esowinwd

Watch Rob and Reece in Dads, directed by Bryce Dallas Howard
https://tv.apple.com/ca/movie/dads/umc.cmc.5voyewgcndqj0a3i9mp7hbloq

Want to be around caregivers who understand this world? Join the free FASD Forever Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDForever

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Carrie McCarter is a speech-language pathologist with a master’s degree who has spent her career working in the birth-to-three world of early intervention. However, when it came to raising her own twins with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), she found that her professional training wasn't enough to navigate the intense dysregulation and sensory challenges at home.

In this episode, Carrie opens up about the "professional paradox" of being an expert in child development while feeling like a failure as a parent. She shares the turning point that occurred when she stopped trying to "fix" behaviors and started understanding the unique architecture of the FASD brain.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

• The Struggle for Diagnosis: Carrie discusses the two-and-a-half-year journey to secure an FASD diagnosis, which finally came when her twins were 10.5 years old.
• The 10 Brain Domains: Discover how learning about the brain domains was "gut-wrenching yet freeing," allowing Carrie to move from guilt to effective accommodation.
• Professional vs. Parent: Carrie explains why her twins would "shut down" at school while displaying acting-out behaviors at home, and why traditional parenting techniques often fail these children.
• The Power of Yet: A look at how Carrie manages the transition into adulthood and why she remains hopeful about the brain’s ability to grow and learn well into the 20s and beyond.
• Self-Care for the Solo Parent: How Carrie utilizes respite services, online grocery shopping, and "breathing breaks" to stay regulated as a single mother.

Resources and Links

Free FASD Workshop Registration Join our upcoming free workshops this February to learn a new brain-body approach to managing aggression and building stability. Register Here: https://www.fasdsuccess.com/fasd-workshop-2026

Connect with Carrie McCarter Carrie is a passionate educator and speaker available for training and advocacy sessions. 

Email: [email protected] 

Watch on YouTube See the full video version of this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7UJh3m9ZAA

The FASD Success Show Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to never miss an episode.

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When you’re parenting on high alert for years, your nervous system eventually tries to protect you. Sometimes that protection looks like numbness, irritability, shutdown, or going through the motions. In this episode, Jeff Noble sits down with Michael Harris, known online as FASD Elephant, to break down the science of blocked care and the small, realistic ways caregivers can find their way back to connection.

In this episode you’ll hear
 • What blocked care is and why it happens when stress stays too high for too long
 • How the stress response can shut down your social engagement system and make you feel emotionally flat
 • Why anxiety keeps pulling you into worst case futures and how to come back to the present moment
 • The difference between self regulation and auto regulation and why auto regulation is the real level up
 • A one minute grounding tool you can practice anywhere even when life is loud
 • How to use “the gap and the gain” to track real progress when it feels like nothing is changing
 • Why grief and ambiguous loss often hide underneath anger and resentment
 • How to avoid toxic positivity and build something steadier and more sustainable

Start here first
 Caregiver Kickstart Workshop (free): https://www.fasdsuccess.com/fasdworkshop2026

Watch the full episode on YouTube
 https://youtu.be/2jcTNnkMfR0

Listen on Apple Podcasts
 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-fasd-success-show/id1492499195

Listen on Spotify
 https://open.spotify.com/show/6ntB51glqYnRPmXCh6lOGq

Resources mentioned
 FASD Elephant (Michael Harris): https://www.facebook.com/fasdelephant

Michael’s email: [email protected]

Michael’s writing hub: https://medium.com/@FASDElephant

Praise for Change: https://praiseforchange.com

Find FASD Success
 Website: https://www.fasdsuccess.com

Free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDforever

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FASDSuccess

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSUCCESS

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Episode #187 The FASD Brain and Connectivity with Dr. Raja Mukherjee

What if many of the struggles we see in FASD are not about behavior at all but about how the brain sends and receives messages?

In this episode of The FASD Success Show, Jeff Noble sits down with Dr. Raja Mukherjee, one of the world’s leading experts in FASD psychiatry and brain development, to explore what brain connectivity really means for individuals living with FASD across the lifespan.

Dr. Mukherjee explains how prenatal alcohol exposure affects the way different parts of the brain communicate with each other and why this can show up as inconsistency, fatigue, emotional overwhelm, and difficulty with daily life tasks even when someone appears capable on the surface.

Together, Jeff and Dr. Mukherjee unpack why independence is often the wrong goal, how interdependence supports regulation and mental health, and what caregivers can do differently when they understand the brain through a connectivity lens.

In This Episode You’ll Hear

• What brain connectivity is and why it matters more than IQ or motivation
 • How miscommunication between brain regions affects regulation, memory, and behavior
 • Why skills can look “there one day and gone the next”
 • How stress and overload disrupt already fragile brain networks
 • Why total independence is not a realistic or healthy end goal for many adults with FASD
 • How interdependence supports long term success and wellbeing
 • What caregivers and systems get wrong when they focus on compliance instead of connection

Why This Episode Matters

This conversation helps caregivers, professionals, and individuals with FASD move away from blame and toward understanding. When you see challenges as connectivity issues rather than character flaws, everything changes including expectations, support strategies, and outcomes.

Dr. Mukherjee brings decades of clinical experience and research insight to a topic that caregivers have been living for years. This episode offers clarity, validation, and a brain based framework you can actually use at home and in advocacy conversations.

Listen and Watch

Listen on Apple Podcasts
 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-fasd-success-show/id1492499195

Listen on Spotify
 https://open.spotify.com/show/6ntB51glqYnRPmXCh6lOGq

Watch on YouTube
 https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

Resources and Links

Learn more about The FASD Success Show
 https://www.fasdsuccess.com/podcast

Join our free parent and caregiver community
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDFOREVER

Follow Jeff Noble
 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FASDSuccess

Subscribe to the YouTube Channel
 https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

You are not failing. You are responding to a brain that connects differently. And when we understand the brain, we can build better support, better days at home, and a better future.

Support the show

What if independence is not the finish line we should be chasing for individuals with FASD?

In this episode of The FASD Success Show, Jeff Noble sits down with Chris Fillion, an adult on the FASD spectrum, foster parent, and national advocate, to talk honestly about what adulthood with FASD really looks like when support is done right.

Chris shares his lived experience navigating mental health challenges, the justice system, social services, and burnout, and how everything changed when the focus shifted from doing life alone to building the right team around him. Today, Chris is the Vice President of the Manitoba FASD Coalition and the Executive Director of FASD Mentors of Change, helping reshape how systems understand success for adults with FASD.

This conversation challenges one of the most exhausting myths caregivers carry, the belief that success means total independence. Instead, Jeff and Chris explore why interdependence, regulation, and community support are the real foundations for long term stability and growth.

In This Episode You’ll Hear

• Why independence is often the wrong goal for adults with FASD
 • What adulthood with FASD actually looks like beyond the labels
 • How anxiety treatment and mental health support can unlock capacity
 • Why having a support team is a strategy, not a failure
 • How lived experience advocacy is changing systems from the inside
 • What caregivers can learn about planning for the long game

Why It Matters

So many caregivers lie awake worrying about the future, wondering if their loved one will ever be okay on their own. This episode offers a powerful reframe.

Success is not about doing everything alone. It is about building a life that works with the brain you have, supported by people who understand it.

Chris’s story is proof that progress is real, timelines are different, and with the right scaffolding, adults with FASD can build meaningful, connected lives.

Resources and Links

FASD Mentors of Change
 https://fasdmentorsofchange.ca

Chris Fillion
 https://chrisfillion.ca

Manitoba FASD Coalition
 https://www.fasdcoalition.ca

New Directions
 https://newdirections.mb.ca

Join our free FASD Success Facebook Group
 https://www.facebook.com/groups/fasdforever

Watch full episodes on YouTube
 https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

Follow Jeff on Instagram
 https://www.instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Full show notes and resources
 https://www.fasdsuccess.com/podcast

Support the show

Trigger warning: This episode discusses suicide, self-harm, and mental health crises.

In this powerful and compassionate conversation, Jeff Noble sits down with Dr. Carly McMorris — clinical psychologist, associate professor at the University of Calgary, and leading FASD researcher — to talk about one of the hardest and most important topics in the FASD community: mental health.

They break down how to recognize the signs of crisis, why individuals with FASD experience such high rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidality, and how caregivers can respond with calm, informed strategies instead of fear.

You’ll learn:
 • Why up to 90% of individuals with FASD experience mental health challenges
 • How to tell the difference between a bad day and a mental health crisis
 • Why “go low and go slow” works — for your loved one and for you
 • How to use the FASD Mental Health Toolkit in real life
 • What caregivers can do when the system doesn’t respond
 • The hope behind new research on mental health and suicidality in FASD

If you’ve ever felt scared, unsure, or alone in supporting your loved one’s mental health, this episode will give you knowledge, validation, and tools to move from fear to understanding.

Resources & Links
🔗 Mental Health Toolkit: canfasd.ca/mental-health-toolkit

🎧 Episode 141 with Emma Jewell: fasdsuccess.com/blog/141-discover-a-new-mental-health-tool-with-emma-jewell

🎧 Episode with Dr. Jacqueline Pei: fasdsuccess.com/blog/FetalAlcoholSyndromementalhealth

Join Our Community
Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/FASDforever

Follow Jeff
Instagram: instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Facebook: facebook.com/FASDSuccess

YouTube: youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

Listen or Watch
Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

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Episode 184: Laurie Anderson The Power of Showing Up

What if success as a caregiver wasn’t about getting everything right, but about showing up again and again?

In this heartfelt episode of The FASD Success Show, Jeff Noble sits down with long time community leader and coach Laurie Anderson to talk about what it really means to keep going through the hardest seasons of caregiving with compassion, connection, and calm.

Laurie shares her journey from confusion to confidence, what she’s learned from years of moderating our 5,000 member FASD community, and how she’s redefining success after retirement and decades of advocacy.

In This Episode You’ll Hear
 • Why consistency and connection regulate the brain better than perfection
 • How Polyvagal Theory explains why community calms the nervous system
 • What success looks like when you measure by regulation, not results
 • Why rest and recovery are just as important as advocacy and action
 • How Laurie’s story can help you see your own progress even on the hard days

This conversation is part science, part story, and full of heart. A reminder that you don’t have to fix it all. You just have to keep showing up

 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

Join our Free Caregiver Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDFOREVER

Follow Jeff on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Full Show Notes: https://www.fasdsuccess.com/podcast

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What really happens as people with FASD grow into adulthood and beyond?

In this episode of The FASD Success Show, Jeff Noble sits down with Dr. Valerie Temple to talk about brand-new Canadian research exploring how the FASD brain and body change with age — and what families, caregivers, and professionals need to know to support lifelong success.

Dr. Temple and her team analyzed data from over 400 adults across Canada to compare younger adults (18–24) with older adults (35+). What they found challenges a lot of assumptions about FASD, aging, and the brain.

In This Episode You’ll Learn
• Why older adults with FASD aren’t “less affected,” but show different patterns of strengths and challenges
• How executive function and attention improve for many adults, while memory and physical health issues increase
• Why substance use and mental health struggles remain high across adulthood — and what helps most
• How diagnosis and support systems can evolve to meet changing needs over time
• What this research means for caregivers, families, and self-advocates navigating adulthood

Why It Matters
For years, most FASD research has focused on children and youth. Dr. Temple’s 2025 study is one of the first to look closely at aging in FASD, providing real data on what support looks like across a lifetime.

The big takeaway: the FASD brain doesn’t stop changing. It adapts, learns, and keeps building new pathways. With the right support, growth and connection are possible at every age.

Watch the Full Interview
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZpjr6YGxH8

Listen to the Episode
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-fasd-success-show/id1492499195

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ntB51glqYnRPmXCh6lOGq?si=f006bfa2966d4972

Resources & Links
• Read the full study: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD): Comparing profiles of younger versus older adults

• Join our free Parent & Caregiver Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FASDFOREVER

• Follow Jeff on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FASDSuccess

• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

• Visit our website for show notes and articles: https://www.fasdsuccess.com/blog/new-research-on-fasd-and-aging-what-families-need-to-know

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What happens after the diagnosis?

In this episode of The FASD Success Show, Jeff Noble sits down with Joseph Munn, an adult with FASD who’s building a life that works, not one that’s defined by expectations.

Joseph opens up about what it felt like to finally understand his brain, how interdependence and technology help him stay regulated, and what community really means in adulthood. From gaming and advocacy to the one-dollar house that changed his life, Joseph’s story reminds us that success isn’t about doing it all, it’s about doing what works.

You’ll hear
 • What finally made sense after Joseph’s FASD diagnosis
 • How he manages overwhelm, anxiety, and independence
 • Why interdependence, not isolation, builds true stability
 • How gaming, technology, and VR became tools for connection
 • What parents can take away about hope, adaptation, and acceptance

Why It Matters

This episode is a real look at life after diagnosis, the challenges, the wins, and the ongoing process of building a future shaped by possibility, not perfection.

Resources and Links

Join our FASD Success Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/FASDForever

Subscribe on YouTube: youtube.com/@FASDSuccess

Follow Jeff on Instagram: instagram.com/FASDSuccess

Full show notes: fasdsuccess.com/podcast

Support the show