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This message was originally posted by [url=http://forums.adoption.com/old_boards.php?username=Micki]Micki[/url].
I read an interesting article on Fetal Alcohol Effect. The baby's mother drinks during pregnancy but the baby doesn't have the usual pronounced symptoms for FAS.
The baby seems fine until later in life when they cannot cope well.
They may be pathological liars or they may steal for no reason, they also have a strange craving for fatty and sweet foods, to the point that they will steal for it.
anyone heard of it?
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This message was originally posted by [url=http://forums.adoption.com/old_boards.php?username=hope4kids]hope4kids[/url].
I have heard of it Micki. My baby was just diagnosed FAS and I have been reading all that I can find. The behavior and lerning problems associated with FAS are just as pronounced with FAE, but the child is less likely to get the necessary services without the FAS diagnosis. For example, FAS is an automatic qualifier for Early Intervention Services, but FAE is not.
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This message was originally posted by [url=http://forums.adoption.com/old_boards.php?username=glk]glk[/url].
I have been to a couple of workshops that included information on FAS/FAE. My understanding is that the main difference between the two boils down to whether or not the child has the facial charactistics - then they have FAS. If they don't have them but mom drank during the pregnancy they would have FAE. The learning problems, behavior problems, etc. are pretty much the same.
This message was originally posted by [url=http://forums.adoption.com/old_boards.php?username=megwing]megwing[/url].
The Fetal Alchohol Clinic in Seattle uses a grid system in which they have several areas: growth, facial features, neurological damage, behavior, exposure (or something along those lines) and then five or so degrees of severity for each. When you put this together in kind of a rating - like a 4-3-1-4-2 (if severity for each area is on a 1 to 5 scale) that creates kind of a coded system by which they make diagnoses... Certain areas (like exposure to alcohol prenatally) might way more than others (i'm not sure). In general, the diagnosis of full FAS is hard to reach, and FAE is often used to describe a similar cluster of symptoms without the same severity in each.
If you get a kid with FAE, it should still be a "head's up". Significant learning and behavioral problems are still likely, in part because part of the effect of the alchohol exposure on brain development is damage to the frontal lobe and the ability to make cause/effect connections.. thus many kids can be drilled in the idea that you can't run out into the street and they can tell you exactly what they should do, but when they are actually there in the street, they don't generalize that information to that particular situation. By this point, there is actually some good information out there for parenting techniques and environmental modifications to help children with FAS/FAE succeed to the best of their individual abilities...
Some interesting books are: Fantastic Antone Succeeds and Fantastic Antone Grows Up (both of which have very specific suggestions)... The Broken Cord.... and, oh shoot, I'm blanking right now... There is a woman named Julie Gelo in Washington who you can contact by e-mail who is awesome and teaches foster parents about FAS... and she is a parent of children with FAS so she's got practical, useful suggestions... and knows the resources.
M.