Volunteering

"Like so many other people, I started out thinking they made their beds and now have to lie in them," she said, choking back tears. "I've come to realize that for 90 per cent of our clients a bad decision was made for them when they were a child or before they were born. They were born with fetal alcohol syndrome, born into abusive homes or born with parents who have mental illness or drug problems."

Read more about the story of this one volunteer - here.

A Multiple-Level, Comprehensive Approach to the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Other Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD)

A Multiple-Level, Comprehensive Approach to the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Other Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD)

Philip A. May‌

The Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions (CASAA), University of New Mexico, 2350 Alamo SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106

A comprehensive program for the prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD) must consider multiple approaches and utilize knowledge from a variety of academic disciplines. Issues related to culture, society, behavior, belief systems, and medicine must all be considered for both etiology and solutions. A broad paradigm such as a public health model integrates various elements of approach. Because FAS and other levels of ARBD form a spectrum, from severe to negligible damage, a variety of drinking patterns with various characteristics and etiologies have to be addressed. This paper describes a multiple-level, comprehensive program with primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention components. Practical recommendations are proposed for addressing ARBD in a variety of arenas. While secondary and tertiary prevention hold promise for shortterm reduction of FAS and ARBD prevalence, comprehensive prevention serves both short- and long-term effects. Multiple level prevention efforts are well served by clear and compelling vision and mission statements, and require careful evaluation.

The truth is sometimes a poor competitor in the marketplace of ideas—complicated, unsatisfying, full of dilemmas, and always vulnerable to misinterpretation and abuse.

George F. Kennan, 1951 (Quoted in Carruth and Ehrlich, 1988)

PDF (2981 KB) | PDF Plus (1166 KB)

Example of some of the Cost of FASD

Cost cost cost.

Everyone talks about the cost from groceries to health care. We want to talk about the additional cost in the criminal justice system for people with FASD.

Again FASD is 100% prevented so all of the case managers, attorneys, doctors, social workers, etc would not be needed for those clients if we rally together and say "NineZero - Nine months, Zero alcohol."

Here is a brief example of the cost of FASD in Manitoba.

Source: Manitoba Justice

MYC facts and figures

- Rated capacity of 150

- 156 inmates as of Friday morning

- Inmates are divided into 10 cottages, which are staffed 24-7

- Average length of stay for a remanded male inmate is 45 days

- Average length of stay for a remanded female inmate is 27 days

- Average cost of three meals per day, per inmate, is $7.70

- 158 full-time employees

- 92 part-time employees

- Registered nurses provide 24-hour care

When most wayward youths are accused of breaking the law and are held until they apply for bail, or are sentenced, they walk through these doors.

For a few days or months at a time -- and sometimes more than once -- this is a home away from home for dozens of bad boys and girls, but it's anything but sweet.

Mostly cut off from the outside world, Manitoba Youth Centre inmates follow a structured routine far from the lifestyle most lead outside the facility's walls....

MENTAL ISSUES

Of course, some don't learn and repeatedly wind up in this dour-looking building in Tuxedo until they become an adult. Many are from low-income families. Some may live in a single-parent or foster home, skip school daily, stay out until all hours of the night, or get one or no meals a day.

On the flip side, some are from stable, loving families.

Then there's challenging mental health or behavioral issues such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Inmates are evaluated and assigned a case manager. They're flowed into a variety of programs, from anger management and life skills to gang intervention and relationship skills....

Fact

Fact: Alcohol is the number 1 cause of mental retardation in the United States.

10,430 babies are born a day in the US.

3 are born with Muscular Dystrophy,

4 with HIV,

8 with Spina Bifida,

10 with Downsyndrome,

20 with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,

100 with Fetal Alcohol Effects (ARND and ARBD)

8th Grade

Alcohol abuse not only effects the life of that individual but the lives of generations to come.

Lets be about the first right of all humanity - being born without Fetal Alcohol.

March of Dimes resource

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Tutor CD-ROM

Click to preview

This comprehensive tool helps health professionals screen and diagnose children with fetal alcohol syndrome. The Tutor uses descriptive text video clips, animations and illustrations to assist users. Available while supplies last.

Hope Lady

Preparing a psycho-educational hope group for parents with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Read more here.

Sports Illustrated

Parkland team on cover of 'Sports Ilustrated Kids'

Flag Football Buddies honored as team of the year

PARKLAND - The director of Parkland Flag Football Buddies says the players already knew how important the program is.

Now the whole country knows.

The team is on the December cover of the 1-million circulation Sports Illustrated Kids as its flag football team of the year.

Shannon Ferguson, program director, said the magazine sent an e-mail to flag football teams nationwide asking how they help their communities. Her husband, Tom Ferguson, wrote back about the Parkland players, some of whom have cerebral palsy, fetal alcohol syndrome and autism.

The team plays on Saturdays during flag football season, August through November. The 25 special needs players are paired with 35 partners.

Parkland also has soccer and basketball buddies programs. A lacrosse program will start next year.

A great story of young people changing history.

Professionals surveyed, Canadian results are in

Canada provides FASD followers with a great wealth of information.

Here are some findings, click here for more:

This study collected information from Canadian health care professionals (a random sample of 5,361 paediatricians, psychiatrists, obstetricians and gynaecologists, midwives and family physicians) to determine their current levels of knowledge and attitudes towards Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and alcohol use during pregnancy. The response rate to the survey was 41.3%, with rates ranging from a low of 31.1% among family physicians to a high of 63.5% among midwives.

In general, the survey results suggest that Canadian health care providers, while aware of some aspects of FASD, require more education and training to support their work of caring for both individuals at risk for having a child with FASD, and for those with FASD and their families. The findings also call for supports to help health care providers make accurate diagnoses and referrals.

Concerning Professional Education and Practice . . .

• Improvements in the use and implementation of standard screening tools for alcohol use among pregnant women. While almost all health care professionals (94%) ask pregnant women about alcohol use, only 62% report using a standardized screening tool. Those most likely to miss being identified include women over 35 years of age, social drinkers, those who are highly educated, those with a history of sexual or emotional abuse, and those of high socioeconomic status. Provincial government action to embed standard screening tools on alcohol use on all prenatal records and support accurate completion of the screening tool would help to improve screening rates and effectiveness.

• Better implementation of the existing clinical practice guidelines recommending that no alcohol be consumed during pregnancy. Survey results suggest that only 88% of health care professionals provide advice according to these guidelines. Moreover, significant regional variation exists, with 75% of health care professionals in Québec providing this advice, compared to over 90% in the Prairies.

• Improvements in information exchange between health care professional and patient on some key health issues — particularly related to the definition of “moderate alcohol consumption” among non-pregnant women, and the use of alcohol and drugs in the prenatal period and during pregnancy. Less than half of the professionals surveyed said they frequently discuss these issues with all women of childbearing age.

• Better training on the diagnostic features of FAS. Only 60% of those surveyed recognize that the most accurate information about a diagnosis of FAS is a combination of growth, brain and facial abnormalities. Moreover, over one half of health care professionals indicate that the absence of specific training on FAS limits their ability to diagnose.

• Improved professional understanding of the long-term secondary disabilities associated with FAS. Although 70% of providers surveyed are aware that FAS is associated with long-term emotional disorders, only 35% are aware of the association between FAS and inappropriate sexual behaviour.

• Clarifying and effectively communicating the terminology related to Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE), for the benefit of clients, care providers and systems responsible for the care of people with FAE and their families.

• Improved professional preparedness to care for alcohol dependent/abusing pregnant women and individuals with FAS. Survey results show that fewer than 60% of health care professionals surveyed feel prepared to care for these clients. However, a greater proportion (70%) is prepared to access resources for these clients. Results also indicate that professionals are generally not interested in receiving training in addiction counselling, preferring instead to use a registry of consultation specialists, clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis of FAS, referral resources for women with alcohol problems and/or materials or training on FAS.

Concerning Policy . . .

• Development of consensus among health professional associations concerning guidelines for moderate alcohol consumption for non-pregnant women, as well as guidelines for alcohol use among women at risk for unplanned pregnancy. Eighty-five percent of health care providers routinely address the issue of birth control with their clients/patients; counselling about alcohol use and FAS would ideally be addressed at the same time.

• Development of guidelines for the advice and treatment of pregnant women discovered to be drinking during pregnancy. This approach would reduce reported inconsistencies in practice. For example, approximately 65% of physicians report always discussing the adverse effects of alcohol when a pregnant woman reports moderate alcohol use, which implies that 30% do not. Furthermore, 85% of physicians always discuss the adverse effects of alcohol or advise women to abstain from alcohol when they report binge or heavy drinking during pregnancy, and 53% refer binge or heavy drinkers to treatment.

• Development of resources related to alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure — for use as reference information by health care providers and for distribution to their clients.

Concerning Research . . .

• Determining the most effective strategies for providing women with information about the risks of alcohol during pregnancy and for reducing alcohol consumption among women at risk of conception. Research should be carried out to determine the relative effectiveness of different intermediaries for information dissemination and behaviour change (i.e., community leaders, opinion leaders, and non-physician health care professionals such as pharmacists and nurses, birth mothers and teachers).

• Improved understanding of the prevalence of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and identification of the characteristics of women who consume alcohol while not using birth control — information essential for the development of appropriate and targeted interventions.

• Determining the prevalence of FAS. Since prevalence in the general population is largely unknown, and because of the lack of tools and guidelines for diagnosis, it is likely that FAS is frequently misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed.

• Developing and implementing surveillance systems to improve the understanding of the distribution and prevalence of FAS diagnosis — aimed at identifying communities at risk and at improving treatment and outcomes for individuals and families.

• Monitoring of health care professionals' knowledge through periodic surveys, and evaluation of education and support programs — to determine changes in the awareness and knowledge of health care professionals.

Are you aware that there are more than 7 million Americans with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (I/DD)? Many of these individuals turn to The Arc of the United States for advocacy, services and support because we are the only national organization that works on behalf of all people with I/DD throughout their lifetimes.

For 60 years, The Arc has been working hand-in-hand with people with I/DD and their families to protect their civil rights and guarantee them opportunities that the rest of us take for granted. We have made progress, but there is more work which must be done - and the need can't wait.

Today, The Arc is working in your community and on Capitol Hill to address real issues like:

• Helping 300,000 children and youth with disabilities that need transition services in order to successfully progress from high school to a more independent adulthood.
• Finding affordable housing and personal care supports that make it possible for individuals with I/DD to live in the home setting of their choice.
• Creating real employment opportunities for people with I/DD that keep them engaged in the community.

Please consider making a generous, tax-deductible on-line gift to The Arc. Your support will help us address these and other critical problems. We appreciate your help!

Thank you,

Chief Executive Officer

PS. Please make your online donation today. Together, we will make sure that people with I/DD have a life of quality! Want to learn more? Go to www.thearc.org and read about us.

School Board Approval

There are few school boards that continue to look forward and aim for prevention and education.

The Greatfalls School District resigned contracts for three employee unions were approved at Monday night's school board meeting and the green light was given to a University of New Mexico research group to continue studying fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in Great Falls for the next four years.

Well-done!

And THANK YOU to all the school districts that continue to open their doors towards prevention for the NineZero Project and other health interventions.

Pam's words

Another blog, another person aiming to prevent and educate about FASD.

Smooth Philtrum

Helpful site to know the physical characteristics of FAS:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0715/p279.html

Keep Up...

Keep up with NineZero on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube.

Tell us what you are doing to prevent FASD!

More on Health Reform

WWW.AMCHP.ORG

Health Care Reform and Women, Adolescents and Children

The Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs has put together two summaries of the provisions in the current health care reform bills that will impact women's, children's and adolescents' health: "What the 1,990 Page House Health Reform Bill Means for Maternal and Child Health, In 10 Bullets!" and "What the 2,074 Page Senate Health Reform Bill Means for Maternal and Child Health In 22 Bullets!"

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has put together slides providing an overview of the health reform legislative process and side-by-side comparisons of the House and Senate bills. Also, KFF has a "FOCUS on Health Reform" brief explaining Medicaid and CHIP provisions in the bills in great detail and a new 50-state survey examining eligibility rules, enrollment and renewal procedures, and cost-sharing practices in Medicaid and CHIP in 2009.

The Center for Adolescent Health & the Law (CAHL), in collaboration with the National Adolescent Health Information and Innovation Center (NAHIIC), recently published a brief explaining how the current health reform bills affect adolescents. The brief outlines the "highlights" and "hazards" of provisions in the bills that will affect adolescents' access to coverage and comprehensive benefits, as well as provisions impacting training and compensation for providers who serve adolescents. The brief can be downloaded here.

The Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University Health Policy Institute recently published a fact sheet, "Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions in the Senate Bill - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Released November 18, 2009)." The Center offers a number of resources on its website related to CHIP and access to health care for children.

10 Bullets!

What the 1,990 Page House Health Reform Bill Means

for Maternal and Child Health, In 10 Bullets!

On November 7th, 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed H.R. 3962, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act. Detailed summaries are available from Congress here and from the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation here. Following is a brief AMCHP overview highlighting some important MCH-related provisions. Please note this is neither comprehensive nor final as the Senate still has to pass their bill and then a Congressional Conference Committee will need to merge the two bills to reconcile differences. Then each body will need to vote again on final passage before it can be sent to the President to be signed into law. This document provides some MCH highlights at a glance. In each case the page number the provisions begin on is provided, and the full bill text is available here.

PREVENTION AND PUBLIC HEALTH

1. Creates a new Public Health Investment Fund that would generate begin at $4.6 billion

and grow to $9 billion per year in mandatory funding above current appropriations levels

to support a range of public health programs. At full implementation, this includes $1.6

billion annually for “Delivery of Community-Based Prevention and Wellness Services”;

$1.3 billion for “Core Public Health Infrastructure and Activities for State and Local

Health Departments; approximately $1.1 billion for Health Workforce Training and

Development; $4 billion for community health centers; $300 million for Prevention

Research; and $350 million per year for “Core Public Health Infrastructure and Activities

for CDC.”

HOME VISITING

2. Creates new grants to states for quality home visitation programs for families with

young children and families expecting children, starting at $50 million a year, growing

to$250 million in the fifth year. Page 1176. Also allows optional state Medicaid

coverage for nurse home visiting services. Page 1045.

COVERAGE

3. Expands Medicaid eligibility to 150% of poverty providing a stable and continuous

source of insurance for all low-income women, children, and families. For the first two

years the federal government will assume full costs of this expansion for newly eligible

populations, with a required match after that. The future cost shift to states is an

important factor that is being negotiated intensely and needs to be watched carefully.

Additionally, the bill proposes that most children currently eligible for CHIP would move

into plans offered through the exchange which could mean that after 2014 currently

CHIP eligible children would likely have a slightly reduced benefits package and less

cost-sharing protections then available under current CHIP programs. Page 1214.

4. To further expand coverage the proposal will establish a health care exchange where

consumers can select from a menu of affordable options including either a new public

health insurance option or a plan offered by private insurers. The federal government

will provide affordability credits, available on a sliding scale for low- and middle-income

individuals and families to make premiums affordable and reduce cost-sharing.

Employers who don't currently offer coverage could choose to cover their workers or

pay a penalty. All individuals would be required to get coverage, either through their

employer or the exchange, or pay a penalty. Page 155.

5. The bill includes a package of insurance reforms that promote both continuity of

coverage and affordability by ending increases in premiums or denials of care based on

pre-existing conditions, race, or gender; eliminates co-pays for preventive care, caps

out-of-pocket expenses, and guarantees catastrophic coverage that protects every

American family from medical bankruptcy, and expands dependent coverage to those

under age 27. Pages 16, 89, 95, and 31.

ACCESS

6. Includes a $1.2 billion grant program to states (over five years) to support expansion

of medical homes in Medicaid, including “medically fragile children and high-risk

pregnant women.” Medical homes that serve medically fragile children must ensure

continuous parent involvement and assistance with transition care. Page 1058.

Approved models include independent patient centered medical home models and

community based medical home models. For additional criteria, see Page 672.

7. Increases authorization for Community Health Center program to $4 billion to support

expanded primary care access and provides mandatory funding through the Public

Health Investment Fund. Page 1219.

8. Authorizes $50,000,000 to establish a new grant program to support school-based

health clinics that provide health services to children and adolescents. Page 1352.

9. Requires Medicaid payment rates to increase to Medicare levels, with full federal

Financing for the first two years but 10% required state match after that. Page 1055.

BENEFITS

10. Plans participating in the exchange must include standardized, comprehensive and

quality health care benefits that include physician services, hospitalization, prescription

drugs, rehabilitative services, mental health and substance use, preventive services

recommended by U.S. Preventive Health Services Task Force, vaccines recommended

by CDC, maternity benefits, well baby and well child care, and oral health, vision and

hearing services for children under 21. Page 103. Also requires Medicaid coverage for

tobacco cessation, and eliminates need for states to seek Medicaid family planning

waivers.

For additional information, please contact Brent Ewig, Director of Policy, at bewig@amchp.org

or 202-775-0436.

Soul - Ache

From a teacher/counselor:

The counselor at our school isn’t sure how much longer she can play the role of Wise and Compassionate Listener. Every day the students at our middle school tell her stories of incest, murder, rape and substance abuse. When the counselor leaves her office, she feels as though sorrow has gripped her heart all day long. She has a “soul-ache.”

I hear some of the same gut-wrenching stories from my students and their friends. A couple of years ago, W-Girl’s sister disappeared. Her badly decomposed body was found many months later. She had been murdered. W-Girl visits the counselor several times a week in an attempt to exorcise the demons that haunt her.

Fifteen-year-old L-Boy brags that he is going to become a father in February. The mother of his child is four years older than he. Both father and mother are still in school, but just barely. How will they support a child without having earned high-school diplomas? Apparently L-Boy doesn’t worry about not graduating. It’s rumored that he makes plenty of money running drugs in the evening or on weekends or on those all-too-frequent occasions when he’s suspended from school.

A casual glance at several of our students will tell you that they were born with fetal alcohol syndrome. They have poor socialization skills and a multitude of learning difficulties, including poor memory, the inability to understand concepts such as time and money, poor language comprehension, and poor problem-solving skills. Most of them are impulsive, anxious and unable to concentrate—all because Mom couldn’t stay away from alcohol during her pregnancy.

In this high-poverty area, there is an abundance of hurt and seemingly little hope.

Parenting Blog

Blog post from Parenting Blog:

Pregnancy period is the most magical time in the couple’s life. It is full of emotions, bonding, excitement and a little fear, fear of the questions related to baby’s physical, emotional and mental health. Each would-be parent will definitely wish that their baby is born intelligent and is incredibly smart.

Nutrition and Intelligence go hand in hand. A golden rule advised to the expecting mothers is the ‘Five-A-Day” rule. It says, “Eat at least two fruits and three vegetables and a balanced diet”.

The seven secrets to make the baby intelligent inside you -

• Omega 3: A winning combination of Pregnancy and Omega 3 can make your baby exceptionally intelligent. The human brain is sixty percent fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are a must for the unborn baby and the mother. The pregnant mother must include fish in her meals or look out for supplements but with due care and with consent of the doctor.

• Pay Attention to Mercury Content: Fishes are very helpful in baby’s brain development but you must take care of the mercury contamination in them. Some fishes like King Mackerel, Shark, Swordfish, tilefish should be avoided due to the higher levels of mercury while fishes like Pollack, Whitefish, Salmon, Shrimp and Catfish should be included in the diet.

• Say NO to Alcohol: If the intake of alcohol is heavy during the pregnancy, it can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome. But a fact is that, even a moderate quantity of liquor, wine or beer is sufficient to cause harm to the baby’s brain. Specifically, moderate drinking can cause problems related with learning abilities, memory power, ability to pay attention and other social skills.

• Boost the Iron Intake: When you are pregnant, just double the intake of iron in your diet. This is required as the iron transports oxygen to your little baby. If the baby is deprived of oxygen, it may lead to improper growth and a low IQ level of the baby. Eat iron rich food items such as chicken, fortified breakfast cereals, lean beef, and legumes.

• Fruits and Vegetables are your friends: Dark green leafy vegetables, blueberries, tomatoes, papaya etc. all produce antioxidants which are needed to protect the damage of baby’s brain tissues.

• Pump up proteins: Proteins are the building blocks of the body. At the pregnancy time, the protein intake should be increased by 10 grams/day. Your breakfast must have yogurt smoothie, lunch should have cup of bean soup, and snack time intake should be whole grains or peanut butter and at dinner take a portion of lean beef.

• Avoid too much weight gain: Too much weight gain leads to premature birth leading to some mental impairments of the baby. If you are normal in weight, gain approximately 25-35 pounds. If you are underweight, gaining about 28-40 pounds is good and if you are overweight, you must gain about 15-25 pounds.

Training 06

The following training video on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is produced by the Washington State Department of Social Services and is part of the Foster Parent Webcast Archive.

New Research $

NeuroDevNet, led by Daniel Goldowitz from the University of British Columbia. Under a five-year research plan, investigators will study ways to reduce costs to the health-care system through early intervention and treatment of children with developmental brain disorders. These include autism spectrum disorder, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy. Researchers will explore how the brain develops, how to detect abnormalities and how to repair the damaged brain.

Examining mathematical abilities in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Examining mathematical abilities in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

•Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits.
•Mathematical ability seems particularly damaged in children with FASD.
•A new study supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical abilities in children with FASD.

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have a number of cognitive deficits, but mathematical ability seems particularly damaged. Little is known about the brain structures related to mathematical deficits in children with FASD. A new study that used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate the relationship between mathematical skills and brain white matter structure in children with FASD supports the importance of the left parietal area for mathematical tasks.

Results will be published in the February 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

"Children with FASD have learning difficulties with reading, memory, executive functioning, attention, and mathematics," said Christian Beaulieu, associate professor in the department of biomedical engineering at the University of Alberta and senior author for the study.

"Specific deficits in mathematics exist even when their global deficits are taken into account," added Claire D. Coles, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Emory University School of Medicine. "Children with FASD are similar in their presentation to children with nonverbal learning disabilities, which are sometimes associated with visual/spatial deficits and math deficits; one of the factors thought to produce these effects is deficits in white matter integrity."

"From studies of brain function, we know that the parietal brain regions are involved in mathematics and number tasks," said Catherine Lebel, a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering who is also corresponding author for the study. "We knew that mathematics was a key deficit in FASD and decided to examine which brain structures were related to these mathematical deficits."

The researchers used DTI to scan 21 children (12 boys, 9 girls), five to 13 years of age, who had been diagnosed with FASD in an earlier study; they also used a cognitive assessment to establish the children's mathematical abilities.

"We found that four different brain areas show correlations between structure and mathematical ability in children with FASD," said Lebel. "Two of these regions in the left parietal area are very similar to previous findings in healthy children and in a rare genetic disorder, suggesting that these regions are key areas for math across diverse populations. The two other regions – the cerebellum and the brainstem – might be unique to children with FASD in terms of math-structure relationships."

"The parietal lobes are what is referred to as the 'association' cortex because it is clear that it is in these areas that a great deal of the higher level 'thinking' occurs, in which different aspects of sensory processing – such as visual and auditory information – as well as cognitive activities are 'associated,'" said Coles. "Math processing relies on a number of skills, visual/spatial skills, executive functioning (which rely on the frontal lobes), and probably the corpus callosum which allows integration of information in the two hemispheres. Previous research has also shown that 'math' processing is associated with certain parts of the parietal lobes. However, different areas seem to be related to different processes, like addition and subtraction, and more difficult kinds of math involve more areas, which are interrelated in 'networks.'"

"Our findings demonstrate a link between brain structure and cognition that provides insight into how the FASD brain works," said Lebel, "and also help understand mathematical processing in a larger population because of the similarities to previous studies. Ultimately, a better understanding of the underlying cause of the various cognitive deficits in FASD may lead to better treatment and improved quality of life."


###

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "Brain Microstructure is Related to Math Ability in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder," were: Carmen Rasmussen and Katy Wyper of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta; and Gail Andrew of the FASD Clinic at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, both in Edmonton. The study was funded by the Networks of Centres of Excellence –Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network. . This release is supported by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network at http://www.ATTCnetwork.org.

Add'l contact: Christian Beaulieu, Ph.D.
christian.beaulieu@ualberta.ca
780.492.0908
University of Alberta

“Yes - it was too hot to stop"

In our SexReally poll “Have you EVER had unprotected sex when you weren’t planning to get pregnant?” almost 7 in 10 poll-takers said

As the poll answer suggests, the general explanation for not taking necessary precautions when getting it on is “heat,” and hormones. But is ambivalence toward pregnancy ever, or often, a factor? [12 min 28 sec]

Listen to the above pod cast link if you haven't already.

Unprotected sex is a common lifestyle that increases the likelihood for creating a baby with the struggling effects of Fetal Alcohol. Not only is it a surprise to find out your pregnant but to also to find out you will be raising a child with fetal alcohol effects is striking.

Why did it take so long?

We ran across this meeting with an incredibly accurate and heartbreaking topic:


Healthy Brains for Children will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Park United Methodist Church.

Topic is "Why did it take 14 years to find out my child was fetal alcohol?"



This is a true case for many biological and adopted parents....why am I just finding out now that my child has fetal alcohol?

It is a statement to the disbelief that fetal alcohol really exists and a reality to the power of big business over the health of the future generations.

Where are we?

You may have wondered where we went....well here we are!

Some things we have done:

Present at Hemet USD offices
Riverside Challenges of Youth Collaborative
RCHF collaborative health meeting

FASTRAC training at Arlington HS
Challenges of Youth Collaborative
FASTRAC training at Roosevelt HS
Donor Appreciation Reception
Chamber of Commerce Business Education Partnership

Challenges of Youth Collaborative
FASTRAC Training at Temescal Canyon