Caregivers and families experience numerous and significant impacts in relation to understanding FASD, obtaining an FASD diagnosis, and managing and supporting individuals with FASD through their lifetime. A lack of understanding by health care and social service providers was considered a key barrier to accessing effective resources and supports. Improved training, resources, and FASD diagnostic guidelines for health care practitioners is essential for improving outcomes for individuals, caregivers, and families.
Highlight on Canadian FASD Service Providers- NB Centre of Excellence
The New Brunswick (NB) Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Centre of Excellence is a bilingual, provincial, community-based model that incorporates a holistic, collaborative, client-centred, strength-based, women-centred, trauma informed approach to its health care services. The NB FASD Centre of Excellence takes great pride in providing a safe, kind, caring, and empathetic environment for all their clients and families. The Centre … Read More
#FeatureFriday – Stigma and the 2019 CCSA Conference
CanFASD had the opportunity to celebrate NAAW at the CCSA’s Issues of Substance Conference. This conference was a wonderful chance for our team to interact with other researchers, professionals, and service providers to gain a better understanding of the landscape of substance use in Canada. It also gave us the opportunity to share the knowledge and resources that our organization has collected and developed about FASD, alcohol, and pregnancy.
Giving Tuesday with CanFASD
Donations to our organization help us to expand the work that we do to improve services, policies, programming, and resources to address FASD in Canada. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the amazing community members who have donated their time, money, and energy to our cause.
Respecting Rights Coordinator Sue Hutton shares her journey at ARCH Disability Law Centre
In delivering Rights training to staff and observing how the self-advocacy movement across Ontario looked like it could use a major facelift, I began to consult with Rights lawyers at ARCH Disability Law Centre to learn more about the legal rights of persons labeled with intellectual disabilities. It seemed as though the law was missing from the fabric of how rights work was being carried out across Ontario’s developmental services agencies. It wasn’t just one agency or another – it was the whole province from what I could gather through academic searches, literature reviews, and my own environmental scans.
Issue Paper: The Efficacy of Warning Labels on Alcohol Containers for FASD Prevention
Organizations and countries around the world have developed a number of prevention strategies to reduce the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Alcohol warning labels are becoming an increasingly common prevention strategy. However, research is mixed on whether this approach is an effective means of FASD prevention.
Public Definition of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
In July 2019, CanFASD released a standard definition of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a diagnostic term used to describe impacts on the brain and body of individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol. FASD is a lifelong disability. Individuals with FASD will experience some degree of challenges in their daily living, and need support with … Read More
#FeatureFriday: World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Submitted By: Alicia Groom This past August, I was lucky enough to get to travel to Scotland to present an oral presentation at the World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD). This conference was held in the historic city Glasgow at the Scottish Event Campus (SEC). As many as 1,254 abstracts … Read More
Highlight on Canadian Service Providers: Alberta- Lakeland Centre for FASD
The Lakeland Centre for FASD (LCFASD) is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 2000, with offices based in northeast Alberta. They are committed to providing continuous care for individuals affected by prenatal alcohol use. LCFASD focuses on three main areas: Identification & Diagnosis Members of the LCFASD team will travel to communities close to clients’ homes, to make diagnostic … Read More
Disability Employment Awareness Month: A Focus on FASD
Disability Employment Awareness Month is celebrated in Canada during the month of October. The goal of this national holiday is to raise awareness of the positive outcomes that come from hiring people with disabilities, and celebrate the contributions that these individuals have made within the Canadian workforce. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the most common developmental disability in North … Read More