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DEMONSTRATION
ALCOHOL ON BRAIN
Break a raw egg into a wine glass. Add one ounce of alcohol. Watch the clear
part develop white streaks as the alcohol "cooks" it. That is a
baby's brain on alcohol."
think
before
you drink. GET
THE
FAS FACTS
FREE
BROCHURE
FAS
FACTS!
Among
children with FAS and ARND up to age 15, the social maturation process
seems to be stunted at the level of a 6 year old child. (Alcohol
Clin Exp Research, Vol. 22, No. 2, April 1998)
Unrealistic
expectations lead to chronic frustration, which contributes to withdrawal
and depression or aggression and violence.
Individuals with FAE may look normal and have seemingly normal
intelligence, but their
damaged brains can result in learning disabilities, impulsivity, lying,
stealing, tantrums,
violence and aggression, inability to predict consequences or learn from
experience, lack
of conscience, and being highly addictive. Most
people with FAE look perfectly normal and are never diagnosed. Research
indicates that a high percentage of homeless people, and
about 50% of juvenile and adult offenders suffer from undiagnosed FAS/FAE.
READ
WHAT
FAMILIES AND
PERSONS WITH
FASD ARE SAYING
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More About FASD?
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Some researchers estimate that each individual with FASD
costs the taxpayer approximately million in his or her lifetime, for health
problems, special education, psychotherapy and counseling, welfare, crime,
and the criminal justice system.
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Fetal Alcohol
is costly to taxpayers:
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During
their lifetimes, the individuals with FAS/FAE now alive in Canada will
cost the taxpayers about billion, about the same as the current
national debt.
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In
the U.S., they will cost the taxpayers about trillion.
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More than 10% of children have been exposed to high levels of
alcohol in-utero.
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All will suffer varying degrees of effects, ranging from mild
learning disabilities to major physical, mental and intellectual impairment.
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It takes very little alcohol to cause serious damage.
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Research has shown that even a single exposure to high levels
of alcohol can cause significant brain damage in the infant.
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FASD is a lifetime disability. It is not curable. A child
does not "grow out of it"
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Early diagnosis and intensive, and appropriate, intervention
can make an enormous difference in the prognosis for the child.
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Time
is of the essence.
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The
younger the child is (prior to age 10-12 year old) at diagnosis the
more opportunity to help the child.
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That period is when the greatest development of fixed neural
pathways occurs.
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That is when alternative "coping" pathways are most
easily built as "work-arounds" to damaged areas of the brain.
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Early
diagnosis can help prevent secondary disabilities such as
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Mental
health problems,
dropping out of school, trouble with the law and substance abuse.
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After
diagnosis, parents often find that their ability to cope with the
child's behavior changes dramatically when they understand that the
problems are most likely based on organic brain damage, rather than
the child's choice to be inattentive or uncooperative.
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FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDER (FASD) Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome (FAS), Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE), Alcohol Related
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ARND), Static Encephalopathy (alcohol exposed)
(SE) or Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD) are all names for a spectrum of
disorders caused when a pregnant woman consumes alcohol.
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F.A.E. stands for Fetal Alcohol Effects.
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It is a label applied when not all the criteria for FAS are
present.
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Another term for FAE is Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental
Disorder (ARND).
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A child with FAE may be normal mentally and physically, but
may still have the same serious neurological disorders associated with FAS.
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Children
whose mothers drank during pregnancy might have no physical signs and
may have normal or above normal intelligence, but still may suffer
from the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol.
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Children with FAE are at greater risk of experiencing serious
problems later in life than children with FAS.
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Of
FAE individuals between the ages of 12 and 51:
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95%
will have mental health problems;
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60%
will have "disrupted school experience";
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60%
will experience trouble with the law;
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55%
will be confined in prison, drug or alcohol treatment center or mental
institution;
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52%
will exhibit inappropriate sexual behavior.
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more
than 50% of males and 70% of females will have alcohol and drug
problems;
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82%
will not be able to live independently;
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70%
will have problems with employment
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