FASD News - 12/2022

EUFASD (Ukraine) - Supporting Ukrainian families and carers of children with FASD in Europe
The EUFASD Alliance and the member organizations are deeply concerned about the welfare of refugees from Ukraine, in particular children who may be affected by FASD.
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EUFASD - EUFASD 2022--Call for Abstracts is Open!
The sixth European Conference on FASD will take place on September 12 to 14, 2022, with a pre-conference training day on 11 September. We hope to hold the conference in-person in Arendal, Norway, but if that is not possible, the conference will take place online.
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NICE (UK) - NICE publishes comprehensive quality standard designed to improve the diagnosis and assessment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
NICE’s latest quality standard published today (16 March 2022) sets out how health and care services can improve the diagnosis, assessment, and prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
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NZ Herald (New Zealand) - Life with mokopuna suffering Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: 'I feel like nobody cares and nobody listens'
"It was like our trauma was a tennis ball, being batted back and forward between Oranga Tamariki and other organisations."
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RNZ (New Zealand) - Waitangi Tribunal hears of impact of FASD on whānau
The Waitangi Tribunal has been told about the catastrophic impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD, on whānau Māori and the neglect of the Crown in addressing access to support.
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Stuff (New Zealand) - Government plan to tackle Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder 'has failed'
A major government initiative to tackle Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has failed to deliver “any meaningful difference” to people with the disorder, say experts who work in the field, and the Health Minister has admitted “there is still a long way to go”.
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India Education Diary - Trinity College Dublin: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Syndrome: The Most Common Preventable Cause Of Intellectual Disability
Dr Katy Tobin, School of Medicine and the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) at Trinity leads the FASDcare project, focussing on Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) – a range of conditions that occur following exposure to alcohol before birth. It is estimated that 1 in 20 people live with the condition in Ireland. Prenatal alcohol exposure is the most common preventable cause of intellectual disability.
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Mamamia (Australia) - 'At 35, I had my miracle baby. But I couldn't stop drinking.'
Even as a young child, Ange never really felt like she fit in. By the time she reached her 20s, she found alcohol to be "an excellent social lubricant".
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2 Minute Medicine - Maternal substance use may increase risk of childhood Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Substance use during pregnancy is known to exert a number of adverse effects on fetal development, with conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome well-established in the literature.
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Medium - Is It Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Or Is It Autism?
FASD does not have to happen if all women, with the support of the father, are avoiding alcohol when pregnant or planning to become pregnant. There is no safe time during pregnancy to drink and there is no safe amount to drink during pregnancy. This has been known by experts in this country since around 1973.
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National FASD - The Time is Now: Ramping Up FASD Support Services
On Monday 21st of March, at the National Liberal Club in Westminster, we unveiled The Time is Now: The National Perspective on Ramping up FASD Prevention, Diagnosis and Support Services.
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Society for the Study of Addiction - Better quality care in England and Wales for people with FASD
The health advisory body for England and Wales has issued a long-awaited piece of guidance on how to improve the prevention and management of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) – a group of lifelong behavioural, cognitive and physical disabilities caused by exposure to alcohol before birth.
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VIDEOS and MATERIALS
Nudge Education - FASD Services & Complex Cases
We provide a range of services to support young people with FASD as well as other complex conditions such who have become chronically disengaged from education.
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Stuff - Disordered: FASD in New Zealand, the neurodisability caused by alcohol
Documentary: The number of people in New Zealand with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) may be grossly underestimated.
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Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada - BEAUTY IN BRAIN DIFFERENCE: A CAMPAIGN TO END FASD STIGMA
Our ‘Beauty in Brain Difference’ campaign is grounded in recognizing the strengths and challenges unique to people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).
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National FASD - The National Perspective on Ramping up FASD Prevention, Diagnosis and Support Services 21-03-22
Nine remote meetings convened by the National FASD Experts Committee took place between December 2021 and March 2022.
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Darren J. Prior / Mac an Phríora - FASD (Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder) and FASD Ireland in 2022 - Near FM
I spoke to Tristan Casson-Rennie the CEO of FASD Ireland about the organisation in 2022. FASD Ireland was set up in September 2021 and in early 2022 opened their HQ in Ennis in Clare.
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CanFASD - Understanding FASD Diagnosis Feb 2022
Researchers have shown that early diagnosis can improve outcomes for people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Early diagnosis can lead to earlier support and interventions, which can reduce the risk of health challenges and common secondary outcomes in the future.
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The Matilda Centre - What is FASD?
A short video that explains what Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is and the impacts it can have on an individual.
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Last Door - Living and Dealing with FASD
This week on Talk Recovery Radio we have 2 amazing guests Robbie Seale and Lauren Richardson, Robbie the the host of “FASD Family Life Podcast” who also has experiencing with raising children who were prenatally exposed to alcohol.
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FASDHub Scotland - FASD Professionals, FASD Month 2021
We asked FASD professionals from across the country why we should 'think differently' about FASD. Here's what they had to say.
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National FASD - Break it Down!
The FASD Break it Down board is a visual tool to help people with FASD work through good and not-so-good situations, to help them identify different strategies and strengths that can help them.
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FASD Awareness #BeAware - Tracy Allen - FASD Awareness Founder and Advocate - Webinar #6
Following a career in retail, Tracy Allen decided to help children through fostering whilst bringing up her family and running a property development business.
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ConnectFASD - Fact sheets
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Rural FASD Support Network - Self-Advocacy Efficacy Scale
Katherine Thompson, MSc. shares why and how she developed evidence-based self-advocacy efficacy scale.  These simple six questions help students measure how successful they are at advocating for themselves.
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Learning with FASD - Evidence-based resources to help educators understand and support children with FASD in Australian primary schools.
Learning with FASD is an Australian Government Department of Health funded initiative to provide evidence-based resources to help Australian primary teaching and support staff understand and support children with FASD.
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Fasd Success Show - #100 A Meeting with My Mentor: 10 FASD Tips from Donna Debolt
This episode is a celebration. It marks the 100th episode of The FASD Success Show but more importantly, and on a personal note, it brings me to the person who was the catalyst for my own professional FASD journey – Donna Debolt.
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Creating a family - Parenting Kids with Prenatal Exposure (Part 2): Transitioning Into Adolescence and Adulthood
The impact of prenatal exposures to alcohol and drugs is not something that kids outgrow and the transition into adolescence and adulthood can be particularly tricky. We talk about this transition with Kathy Hotelling, a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and is the co-founder of NCFASDInformed.org. She is also the mother of a 27-year-old with FASD.
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RESEARCH
Archives of Disease in Childhood - Impact of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder on families
FASD impacts children’s health, and function of the family and unaffected siblings. These novel findings highlight the need for family-oriented service development.
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Scientific Reports - A data driven approach to identify trajectories of prenatal alcohol consumption in an Australian population-based cohort of pregnant women
Accurate information on dose, frequency and timing of maternal alcohol consumption is critically important when investigating fetal risks from prenatal alcohol exposure.
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The University of Western Ontario - Motives for Caregivers of Children with FASD Who Connect with a Caregiver to Caregiver Mentor
This study was intended to determine the motives of caregivers of children and youth with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) who accessed caregiver to caregiver mentors.
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Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders - mRNA expression analysis of the hippocampus in a vervet monkey model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Prenatal alcohol exposure leads to global downregulation in mRNA expression. The cellular interference model of EFNB1 provides a potential clue regarding how genetically susceptible individuals may develop the phenotypic triad generally associated with classic fetal alcohol syndrome.
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Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities - A Comparison of the Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Caregivers of Autistic Children and Caregivers of Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Given the similarities in these two caregiver groups, and the shortage of research on families of people with FASD relative to families of autistic people, interventions for family caregivers in the autism community may also be applicable for FASD families, for whom fewer resources are available.
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NeuroToxicology - BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER AS AN INTERFACE FOR ALCOHOL INDUCED NEUROTOXICITY DURING DEVELOPMENT
In this review, we address the effects of alcohol exposure on the formation of the BBB, specifically describing the cellular and molecular events induced by ethanol in the physiology of endothelial cells and glial cells, as well as their interaction during CNS development.
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Cavendish Repository - ASSESSMENT OF OCCURENCE OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AMONG WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE AT LIVINGSTONE CENTRAL HOSPITAL, ZAMBIA
Age, education level, employment status and presence of chronic physical or mental illness were associated with alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.
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Alcoholism - Sexually dimorphic organization of open field behavior following moderate prenatal alcohol exposure
These findings support the conclusion that adult male rats have an increased susceptibility to the effects of PAE in the organization of open field behavior.
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Systematic Reviews - Prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders and their impact on the health and social well-being among looked after children (LAC): a systematic review protocol
Attaining an estimated prevalence of these NDDs and identifying any impacts on health and social well-being might inform key stakeholders in health, educational and social sectors with important information that might aid in the early identification and intervention to safeguard and meet the unique needs of these children.
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Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproduction - A current view on the alcohol-related teratogenic effects during pregnancy. Potential preventive measures
Preventing FAS is an urgent and unexplored issue in Russia. Medical doctors able to conduct pregravid preparation of a married couple while they plan to conceive a healthy child are highly demanded.
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International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Adult Daughters of Alcoholic Parents—A Qualitative Study of These Women’s Pregnancy Experiences and the Potential Implications for Antenatal Care Provision
The adult children of alcoholic parents are at increased risk of having health problems compared to the adult children of nonalcoholic parents. Little is known about how growing up with alcoholic parents affects women’s experiences when pregnant.
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Nutrients - Untargeted Metabolome Analysis Reveals Reductions in Maternal Hepatic Glucose and Amino Acid Content That Correlate with Fetal Organ Weights in a Mouse Model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) causes fetal growth restrictions. A major driver of fetal growth deficits is maternal metabolic disruption; this is under-investigated following PAE. Untargeted metabolomics on the dam and fetus exposed to alcohol (ALC) revealed that the hepatic metabolome of ALC and control (CON) dams were distinct, whereas that of ALC and CON fetuses were similar.
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BJSE - ‘I'm always up against a brick wall with them’: parents' experiences of accessing support for their child with a newly recognised developmental disorder
There needs to be greater awareness of additional needs in children without externalising behaviours, the presence of gender-specific differences in the presentation of DDs, and FASD as a commonly occurring DD.
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Journal of Medical Ethics - Can routine screening for alcohol consumption in pregnancy be ethically and legally justified?
In the UK, it has been proposed that alongside the current advice to abstain from alcohol completely in pregnancy, there should be increased screening of pregnant women for alcohol consumption in order to prevent instances of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
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Front. Cell Dev. Biol - Transgenerational Effects of Prenatal Ethanol Exposure in Prepubescent Mice
Our results suggest that robust, clinically-relevant behavioral abnormalities are passed transgenerationally to the offspring of mice directly exposed to prenatal ethanol.
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IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Index.hr (Croatia) - Stručnjaci predložili bilježenje svake čaše alkohola u trudnoći u djetetov karton
UOBIČAJENA je praksa da se buduće mame odvraća od pijenja alkohola premda se njihove navike nikad nisu formalno i detaljno dokumentirale. Novi savjet Nacionalnog instituta za izvrsnost zdravlja i njege (NICE) ima za cilj identificirati bebe s poremećajem fetalnog alkoholnog spektra (FASD).
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Zona de prenza (Spain) - Las mujeres embarazadas tendrán UNA SOLA copa de vino registrada en las notas médicas en un paso controvertido
Las mujeres EMBARAZADAS tendrán cada copa de vino que beben registrada por los médicos. Previamente, a las futuras mamás se les ha disuadido de beber, pero sus hábitos no se han escrito formalmente.
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Studio3 (Germany) - Clara und Luise Andrees, Zwillingsschwestern mit FASD
Geboren werden die eineiigen Zwillinge Clara und Luise (27) mit dem Krankheitsbild Fetale Alkoholspektrumstörungen (FASD). Ihre Mutter hatte während der Schwangerschaft Alkohol getrunken und die beiden untergewichtigen Frühchen nach der Geburt zurückgelassen.
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