Resources:

http://fasd.alberta.ca/index.aspx Government of Alberta Website Dedicated to

FASD
https://education.alberta.ca/media/377037/fasd.pdf

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) - Coined in 1973 to describe physical

malformation and mental retardation observed in children born to alcoholic
mothers.
Fetal Alcohol System (FAS) - profound physical and neural abnormalities in
offspring caused by exposure to high ethanol levels in utero.

Sterling Clarren, MD
Affected Regions:
Frontal Lobes: Executive Functions
Limbic System: Regulates emotions, social and
sexual behavior, the fight or flight response, and
empathy.
[Hippocampus, Amygdala, Hypothalamus]

Behaviour:
varying degrees of learning disabilities
low intelligence test scores
hyperactivity
social problems

 individuals with FASD are 19x more likely to be incarcerated than those without1.
incidence rate: 1 in 100 births2
high incidence in Native American populations (Canada), some minority groups,
and single mothers. Major risk for poor and uneducated whose alcohol problems
predate pregnancy (cycle).
picture of craniofacial features.3

Trimester

baby's brain is always vulnerable to damage from alcohol exposure

Alcohol interferes with the migration and organization of brain

cells. [Journal of Pediatrics, 92(1):64-67]

2
(10 to 20th
week)

Evidence that heavy ethanol exposure seems to cause more

clinical features of FAS than at other times during pregnancy.
[Early-Human-Development; 1983 Jul Vol. 8(2) 99-111]

The hippocampus is greatly affected, which leads to problems with

encoding visual and auditory information (reading and math).
[Neurotoxicology And Teratology, 13:357-367, 1991]

xx Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ARND) - prenatal exposure to

moderate levels of alcohol. Symptoms include: learning difficulties in school, poor
capacity for abstraction, problems in memory, attention, and judgement. Moderate
exposure in utero may cause cognitive deficits that may not become apparent until
the child is challenged during advanced (post grade school) educational years.
number of children with ARND may be 10 to 20 times higher than FAS4

Resources:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/healthychild/fasd/fasdeducators_en.pdf
http://www.education.alberta.ca/media/352661/build.pdf
Strategies:

Kolb, Wishaw. An Introduction to Brain and Behaviour. Worth Publishers, New York. Pg. 184
http://fasd.alberta.ca/get-to-know-fasd.aspx
3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_alcohol_syndrome
4
McDonald, R. Lecture Notes Neurobiology of Learning & Memory
2

Why: Children with FASD often make the same mistakes repeatedly matter how
many times they are corrected and given consequences. FASD students seem to
have difficulty connecting cause and effect and changing behaviour as a result of
consequences.
What: Parents and teachers may need to make extra efforts to apply consequences
consistently and immediately, along with reminders of the reasons for them. they
must be directly related to the behavior and used as a means of correcting and not
punishing.
How:
- Be as consistent as possible in imposing consequences. Make them as
immediate as possible and remind students what the consequences are for,
keeping in mind that they may not retain this information
- Consider the students verbal and memory limitations in working through an
incident
- Allow a cooling down period in a safe, calming space in the classroom or at
home, prior to debriefing with them.
- Invite students into the process, asking for their feedback as to what they
feel might work for them and help them prevent incidents in the future
Why: Students with FASD are all unique in many different ways. Each child
presents a complex individual portrait of competencies and challenges. Students
with FASD must be recognized as individuals rather than as members of a
homogeneous group. FASD can affect individuals in varying degrees, from mild to
severe.
What: Rather than a single surefire strategy for working with FASD students, each
individual will have certain strengths and impairments that define how they behave
and learn. Teachers should work with the student, parents, and other school
resources to formulate a plan specific to each student.
How:
- Talk to the student and ask them about themselves. Get to know their likes,
dislikes, strengths, trouble areas, etc. There are many templates and
resources handy to use.
- Approach the parents about helping with the students plans and strategies.
If they wish to help, ask about tendencies seen at home and strategies that
seem to work for them.
- Focus on the students strengths and have supports and plans of action in
place for areas or behaviours that the student may have trouble with.

When moving to the next grade, have the student write a short letter to the
next teacher to explain all about them as well as what areas they have grown
in this year, and hope to grow in next year.
All of the templated for above can be found in the Building on Success print
resource

Resources:
http://education.alberta.ca/media/377037/fasd.pdf
http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inmdict/html/fasd.html
Strategies:
Why: Students with FASD generally have emotional and behaviour issues thus it is
important that we create a positive classroom climate and maintaining a supportive
learning environment for students with FASD. While many act in ways that could
be considered erratic and irresponsible, their behavioural difficulties may be due to
memory problems, an inability to problem solve effectively or the tendency to
become overwhelmed with stimulationall factors related to neurological damage
associated with prenatal alcohol exposure.
What:Three typical behaviours are especially confusing and frustrating in the
classroom:
lack of cause-and-effect reasoning
lying
stealing.
Lying needs to be understood within the context of the neurological impairment of
students with FASD.These students may have language difficulties, memory
deficits, immature social skills and anxiety that underlie their fabrications. They
may not understand what it means to lie
How:
Help students distinguish story telling from lying by providing them with
positive opportunities to tell stories. When you suspect students may be
story telling, ask them a simple question, truth or story? This cues students
to stop and think, and get back to the truth. \
- Directly teach the concepts of true and false, real and imaginary, and fiction
and nonfiction.Often, parents of children with FASD report their children do

not spontaneously engage inpretend play. If they do not pretend, it makes it

difficult to distinguish pretend from true and real.
Directly teach younger students what pretending involves. Use costumes and
props to demonstrate taking on other roles, such as pretending to be a police
officer, superhero or animal. Use these situations to discuss the difference
between pretending and lying.

why: As a group, students with FASD benefit from structure and routine, and a
predictable environment where their comfort and competence levels can grow
What: Creating a physically and psychologically safe environment for all students
How:
- Work with students to develop a plan for what to do when they feel
overwhelmed by people, sound, light or movement. Include strategies, such
as moving to a quiet place in the classroom, going for a drink of water or
asking to take a short walk around the school building.
-Seat students with FASD next to appropriate role models, such as students who
are less active and demonstrate good work habits.
-Stand near students when speaking or presenting instructions.
- If the classroom has tables rather than desks, seat students with FASD at the
end. Ensure there isenough space between students so they are unable to
physically bother one another.
- Seat students in quiet locations away from pencil sharpeners, cupboards,
windows, colourful
displays and other materials that might be distracting.
1. Strategy: xxStructure the physical learning environment,
which means that students with FASD can be easily distracted if they have poor
sensory processing, and so structuring the classroom to have less visual stimuli
might help these students accomplish more work.
How to apply: xxCreate a quiet and calm environment.
How to use it in the classroom: Teachers can use tennis balls on the bottom of
chairs and on desk legs to reduce noise as students move their desks and chairs.
We can also consider using window coverings, relaxing music, and headphones for
quiet time as other uses in the classroom to create a quiet and calm environment.
2. Strategy: Its important to teach social and adaptive skills because most
students with FASD have trouble with adaptive and functional living skills. These
skills are often an essential part of programming for students with FASD.
How to apply: Use role-playing and practice in context.
How to use it in the classroom: Role-playing allows students to explore
communication skills in a safe environment. As teachers we can provide specific
situations to role-play, and provide tips for being participants and tips for being an

observer; it is important to follow role-playing with discussion. It is just as

important to acquire skills through being an observer as it is through participating
in the role-playing. Through observation listening skills are acquired, appropriate
use of encouragement and feedback are learned, and body language can also be
studied.
Note: Students/ECS children diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
in the most severe cases should be reported under Code 44 rather than Code 42.
FASD

students:
struggle to learn basic facts, such as multiplication facts
have difficulties with memory and organizational skills
have strengths in visual arts and music
enjoy repetitive work and succeed in structured situations
enjoy physical activities
respond to smaller teaching groups.

http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/inmdict/html/fasd.html