Mary Byrnes, Founder and Executive Director of Harrison's Hope, has published Everything Clicks, a personal account of raising a son with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and of the realisations that changed how she understood her own life.
https://www.financialcontent.com/article/marketersmedia-2026-10-28-harrisons-hope-founder-mary-byrnes-publishes-everything-clicks-a-story-of-fasd-and-motherhood
EUFASD - FASD 2027:
Call for Abstracts/Save the Date for International FASD Conference
European researchers, practitioners, and advocates are invited to share
their work and perspectives at the 20th Annual International Conference on
FASD, March 12–15, 2027, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.
https://www.eufasd.org/news/fasd-2027-call-for-abstractssave-the-date-for-international-fasd-conference/?p=4
BBC (UK) - “He’s a
little ray of sunshine” – adopting a child with FASD
Anna and Steve are a married couple who live in London. In 2021, the two
doctors adopted Alfie, then aged two. Alfie has Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
(FASD), a lifelong condition caused by a birth mother’s exposure to alcohol
during pregnancy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/articles/zw4bfdm
Fe News (UK) - Empowering
families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Anna features in the University’s Heart of the Community exhibition – a
series of portraits of people in the community who have collaborated with our
researchers.
https://www.fenews.co.uk/higher-education/empowering-families-affected-by-fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorder/
Bioengineer.org (USA)
- Workshop report flags heavy burden of co-occurring conditions in fetal
alcohol spectrum disorders
Children in the U.S. Military Health System who carry a diagnosis of fetal
alcohol syndrome or prenatal alcohol exposure overwhelmingly live with other
neurodevelopmental disorders, according to findings presented at the fourth annual
Workshop on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Prevention and Clinical Guidelines
Research, held on 17 September 2025 in Washington, DC.
https://bioengineer.org/workshop-report-flags-heavy-burden-of-co-occurring-conditions-in-fetal-alcohol-spectrum-disorders/
NOFASD Australia
(Australia) - FASD Across All Systems: Resources for Professionals
FASD resources for professionals can help build understanding across
service systems and strengthen FASD-informed practice. People with Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) may interact with a range of services and
systems throughout their lives, making it important for professionals to
recognise individual strengths and support needs.
https://www.nofasd.org.au/blog/fasd-resources-for-professionals/
JA PreventNCD (Ukraine)
- Preventing Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorders in Ukraine
According to WHO estimates, the prevalence of FASD in Ukraine in 2019 was
50 per 10,000 children; however, these data are based on estimates and studies
rather than systematic annual reporting.
https://www.preventncd.eu/newsroom/news-updates/preventing-fetal-alcohol-syndrome-disorders-in-ukraine/
FARE Australia - Reflections
on International FASD Awareness Month
Now that Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month is over,
the FARE Health Programs team has been reflecting on how we approach raising
awareness of FASD in a crowded calendar of awareness days and months.
https://fare.org.au/reflections-on-international-fasd-awareness-month/
CanFASD (Canada) - An
Important Intersection: UNDRIP, Indigenous Disability, and FASD
All individuals have human rights. Human rights are a universal standard
that ensures everyone has the opportunity to live with dignity and freedom from
harassment or discrimination.
https://canfasd.ca/2026/10/21/an-important-intersection-undrip-indigenous-disability-and-fasd/
The Adoption and
Fostering Podcast - Walking with Families with Anna Webster talking FASD
parenting
This is a different kind of episode, as it’s a recording of peer support
group sessions that I host with Walking with Families. We are a community of
adoptive parents who are living with challenging behaviour and we had
Neurodiversity Coaching Psychologist Anna Webster join us.
https://adoptionandfostering.podbean.com/e/walking-with-families-zn-with-anna-webster-talking-fasd-parenting/
NordAN (Finland) - Alcohol
exposure during pregnancy has declined in Finland, but early pregnancy remains
a concern
Alcohol exposure during pregnancy has decreased substantially in Finland
over the past 35 years, according to a new study published in PLOS One.
However, the researchers estimate that exposure remains common, with drinking
before pregnancy recognition continuing to present a significant challenge for
prevention.
https://www.nordicalcohol.org/post/alcohol-exposure-during-pregnancy-has-declined-in-finland-but-early-pregnancy-remains-a-concern
VIDEOS
Sunshine Support - FASD Explained: The Hidden Disability Families and
Schools Miss
Join Chrissa Wadlow and author and FASD dad Andrew James for an honest
conversation about what FASD really is, why it can be missed or misunderstood,
and how it can affect children at home, in education and throughout everyday
life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fqEV9jUcmU
CanFASD - All About
the Canada Northwest FASD Partnership: A Conversation with Darren Joslin
In this video, Darren Joslin, a founding leader of the Canada Northwest
FASD Partnership (CNFASDP), reflects on how a shared commitment to addressing
FASD brought provinces and territories together to create the
Partnership—demonstrating how collective action continues to drive better outcomes
for individuals and communities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDzBU6uDsh4
Patricia Kasper, Your
FASD Coach - FASD and Suicidality: Risk Factors, Suggestibility, and
Prevention with Dr. Jerrod Brown
In this episode of Living with FASD,
Dr. Jerrod Brown returns to explore the complex, biopsychosocial realities of
suicidality in FASD. Patti and Dr. Brown unpack how neurobiology, trauma, and
executive dysfunction intersect—highlighting the critical distinction between
intentional despair and impulsive acts fueled by high suggestibility and
impaired cause-and-effect thinking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN684QJJK2s
Day One Hāpai te
Haeata - My Journey With FASD (Trailer) | Day One Shorts 2026
WATCH official trailer. My Journey With FASD. A slice of life animated
documentary following a teenager in Aotearoa living with FASD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swj97WiPuDM
Harrison's Hope FASD -
FASD Advocacy, Research & Lifelong Support | Carl Young
Join FASD advocate and author Carl Young in conversation with Harrison's
Hope Founder and Executive Director Mary Byrnes as they explore lived
experience, FASD advocacy, research-informed resources, and Carl's
Collaborative Support Triad theory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G82aEWVX5gQ
FASD United (formerly
NOFAS) - William J. Edwards - ABA Paul G. Hearne Award for Disability Rights
- FASD United Red Shoes Gala
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkfLvHavHks
COREADD
Nouvelle-Aquitaine - Interview with Maitre Benoît Titran | FASD &
Justice: How can we better support those affected?
In this video, Benoît Titran, a lawyer at the Lille Bar, shares his
experience and perspective on the challenges related to FASD within the justice
system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLfakO9sPRQ
RESEARCH
Research in Developmental Disabilities - Scottish health and social care
professionals knowledge and attitudes towards prenatal alcohol exposure and
fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Significant gaps in FASD knowledge persist, especially outside specialist
groups. Targeted and widespread training is needed training is needed to
identify potential cases, reduce stigma, and ensure equitable, informed care in
Scotland.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0891422226002064
Developing world
bioethics - Ubuntu and Structural Injustice in FASD Prevention: Relational
Responsibility and the Ethical Limits of Criminalisation in South Africa
Ubuntu does more than supply culturally resonant vocabulary. It provides
independent relational reasons to treat trust, mutual recognition, least
infringement and shared stewardship as central to legitimate prevention.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42929232/
MEDICAL EXPRESS
REPORTS - THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION DURING PREGNANCY ON FETAL
DEVELOPMENT: PATHOGENESIS, CLINICAL CONSEQUENCES, AND PREVENTION
Current evidence does not establish a safe amount, type, or period of
alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Complete abstinence while planning
pregnancy and throughout gestation is consequently the most reliable preventive
approach.
https://cambridge-medical.com/index.php/mdc/article/view/33
Pediatric Substance
Exposure - In any child with neonatal abstinence syndrome, consider the risk
of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Due to the high prevalence of poly-substance use among pregnant women who
use illicit drugs, it is essential to consider the possibility that children
with opioid-related neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) may also have had
prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and be at risk of fetal alcohol spectrum
disorder (FASD).
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/chapter/edited-volume/abs/pii/B9780443265761000010
Psychiatry Research:
Neuroimaging - Exploring the neural correlates of mental health:
associations between cortical folding and mental health problems in youth with
prenatal alcohol exposure
Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can alter neurodevelopment and cause health
and behavioral effects. Mental health challenges disproportionately affect
individuals with PAE and are related to brain alterations.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925492726002258
Brain Sciences - Maternal
Choline Supplementation Is Associated with Lasting Improvements in Behavioral
Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure in the C57BL/6J Mouse
Our data suggest that maternal choline supplementation can modulate body
weight increase through later adulthood in both CON and ALC offspring and also
confers lasting behavioral benefits in the context of PAE.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/16/11/1148
BJM - Alcohol-free
drink consumption among pregnant and postpartum women: a qualitative
exploration
Low-alcohol and alcohol-free drinks supported social inclusion, facilitated
by taste, availability and social support. Use often continued postpartum to
support health, breastfeeding and parenting.
https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/bjom.2026.0052
Dement Neurocogn
Disord. - Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder as a Potential Early-Life Risk
Factor for Dementia: A Life-Course Perspective
Current models of modifiable dementia risk span the life course but begin
with formal education, leaving the prenatal period unexamined. Prenatal alcohol
exposure (PAE) is the leading preventable cause of neurodevelopmental disability;
its clinical expression is fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), of which
fetal alcohol syndrome is the most severe form.
https://dnd.or.kr/DOIx.php?id=10.12779%2Fdnd.2026.25.4.195
PloS One - Estimated
incidence and number of new cases with prenatal alcohol exposure and fetal
alcohol spectrum disorders in Finland 1990–2025
PAE remains common in Finland, and the burden of FASD is substantial
despite declining trends. Additional biomarker-based studies of PAE and active
case ascertainment of FASD are needed to refine current estimates.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13686515/
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Językoznawstwo (Poland) - Trudności komunikacyjne i zaburzenia fluencji
słownej u dzieci z rozpoznaniem FASD
Prenatalna ekspozycja na alkohol prowadzi do trwałych zaburzeń rozwoju
ośrodkowego układu nerwowego, których konsekwencją są między innymi deficyty
językowe i komunikacyjne charakterystyczne dla spektrum płodowych zaburzeń
alkoholowych (FASD).
https://ojs.academicon.pl/jezykoznawstwo/article/view/10651
Itä-Suomen yliopisto
(Finland) - Fetaalialkoholispektrin häiriöt (FASD): erityispiirteet
suunterveyden ja suun terveydenhuollon näkökulmasta
Katsauksen perusteella FASD:llä havaittiin laaja-alaisia vaikutuksia
elämänlaatuun, fyysiseen ja psyykkiseen terveyteen sekä suun terveydentilaan ja
hoidon toteuttamiseen.
https://erepo.uef.fi/server/api/core/bitstreams/430cbd68-a74d-43b7-a684-b549f141339d/content
Universidade da Coruna
(Spain) - Biomarcadores biolóxicos na detección da exposición prenatal ó
alcohol: revisión bibliográfica
El alcohol es una de las sustancias más teratogénicas conocidas y
constituye una de las principales causas prevenibles de deterioro cognitivo y
malformaciones congénitas en el nacimiento.
https://ruc.udc.es/entities/publication/a522b972-a604-4d0c-aaa0-2237cbd22b3c
Minski24 (Poland) - Dwa
nowe portale w Mińsku Mazowieckim o uzależnieniach i FASD
Pytania o alkohol, narkotyki i bezpieczeństwo dziecka w ciąży często
pojawiają się wtedy, gdy potrzebna jest szybka, spokojnie podana informacja. W
Mińsku Mazowieckim uruchomiono dwa internetowe portale poświęcone profilaktyce
zdrowotnej i społecznej.
https://minski24.pl/20261027820086/dwa-nowe-portale-w-minsku-mazowieckim-o-uzaleznieniach-i-fasd
DUODECIM (Finland) - Alkoholin
käyttö raskauden aikana edelleen yleistä Suomessa
Raskaudenaikainen alkoholinkäyttö on Suomessa vähentynyt selvästi
edellisten vuosikymmenten aikana, mutta edelleen jopa kolmannes lapsista
saattaa altistua alkoholille raskauden aikana.
https://www.duodecim.fi/uux30505/
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