Category Archive

Support to FASD missing in federal budget Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a major public health issue in Canada, affecting four per cent of the population, which is more than autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome combined. Ninety per cent of individuals with FASD also experience metal health issues and a similarly high proportion struggle with substance use and … Read More

Difficulty sleeping is common among those with FASD. However, sleep difficulties are seldomly discussed in the literature, or among health care professionals and caregivers, as the focus remains on challenges experienced during the day. It is widely known that sleep is important for brain development, and poor sleep has been found to have a direct effect on daytime functioning because … Read More

“Minding the Brain” is a podcast series on cognitive and brain science, hosted by Kim Hellemans, Chair of the Department of Neuroscience, and Jim Davies, professor in the Cognitive Science department at Carleton University. Recently, Executive Director of CanFASD, Audrey McFarlane, was featured on a podcast episode to talk about the impact of alcohol on the developing brain. Dr. Hellemans … Read More

The 8th International Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is coming to Canada, from March 6-9, at the Westin Bayshore. Though Canada is honoured to host a conference featuring so many global FASD experts from multiple disciplines, our progress in critical action is hindered by the lack of a national strategy. CanFASD (The Canada Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Research … Read More

  On behalf of the Alberta Clinical and Community-Based Evaluation Research Team (ACCERT), and the extended Housing Initiatives team comprised of individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), parents of children with FASD, academic researchers, and housing and FASD experts, I am pleased to announce that we have completed our framework and evaluation plan for housing individuals with FASD. This … Read More

Vanessa Hrvatin is the recipient of the 2018 Lang Fellowship in Journalism. She sat down for an interview with Dave Brackenridge, the host of 10/3 podcast series, to talk about the risk of FASD, who is most affected, and how myths and stigma alter understanding of the disorder. Vanessa was assigned a story on FASD about 2 years ago, but … Read More

This study looks at suicidal ideation and serious suicide attempts among adolescents with high-functioning FASD, between 13-18 years old, and compares the prevalence rates of suicidal ideation among typically developing adolescents. Statistics among the general population 17.2% of typically developing adolescents had thought about suicide in the last year 2.4% of adolescents in the general population attempted suicide at least … Read More

SAVE THE DATE! On April 4th, 2019, Jeff Noble has partnered with CanFASD to host a one-day conference titled: “Building Better Bridges: A Shared Understanding of FASD”. The conference is open to parents, caregivers and service providers, and will provide participants with a greater understanding of FASD via interactive lessons and education on current research. Registration information will come out … Read More

FASD has been found to be 10-15 times more common among foster/adopted children, potentially affecting 17% of all children in foster care. However, many children remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Misdiagnosis or undiagnosed FASD is common in the foster care system, due to caregivers’ lack of knowledge of the birth mother’s alcohol use during pregnancy. This study examined the prevalence rates … Read More

Recently, I was invited to attend the monthly meeting of the Collaborative Solutions Action Group, part of the FASD Collective in Calgary. The topic of discussion this day was the experiences of some families in their efforts to find appropriate services for their loved ones affected by FASD. Most of the experiences shared revolved around youth aged 14 – 20; … Read More