1 Rewiring the brains of children with fetal alcohol syndrome
The Alert program involves using games and props to get children to think of their brains and bodies as engines that at times can get too revved up. Each child finds “tools” to help their engines gear down when they feel angry or hyperactive, like putting in ear plugs, closing the blinds or sitting on a “wiggle seat,” a half-inflated camping pillow. Tools include strategies for dealing with situations that upset them. The children also learn how to fire up their engines – perhaps with physical exercise – if they are feeling tired or sad.
2 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as devastating as AIDS
South Africa has the highest recorded rate of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world, affecting more than 1 million residents and is being urged to take action against a preventable medical condition, the impact of which has been labelled as devastating as HIV. The country has the highest recorded rate of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world. The country’s leading expert estimates that more than one million South Africans have been damaged by their mothers drinking while they were pregnant.
3 Getting an Early Start on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Important information on FASD specifically for Head Start and Early Head Start staff by Dr. Larry Burd, Director of the North Dakota Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Article, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 27, 2011
4 Rewiring the brains of children with fetal alcohol syndrome
A new 12-week program at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children is helping children with FASD manage impulse control and create lasting improvements on behavior. Article, The Globe and Mail, May 27, 2011
5 An inspiring triumph over fetal alcohol syndrome
Sargent, 34, was born to a mother who drank throughout her pregnancy. He was pronounced dead three times before doctors said he would live, but in a vegetative state. When he was 5 months old, his mother left him in his crib in a soiled diaper and headed to California. “If you want your grandson,” she told her mother in a phone call, “come and get him.”. . Article, Star Tribune, May 26, 2011
6 UNFAIR BURDEN: the invisible, pervasive condition caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol
David Gerry, manager of FASD services at Beacon Community Services of British Columbia shares his efforts to educate Canadians about FASD and help children living with the disorder. Article, BCLocalNews.com, May 26, 2011
7 New Reports: ADHD and Autism on the rise
Dr. Coleen Boyle, Director of the CDC’s National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities recently sat down with CNN American Morning’s Kiran Chetry to discuss new reports stating that there has been an increase of children and young adults with ADHD and Autism in the United States.
Video, CNN, May 24, 2011
8 Revisiting ADHD and Ritalin
May 17th, 2011 in Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry. Fifteen years ago, Dr. Lawrence H. Diller, a pediatrician from Walnut Creek, ignited a national debate over the steep rise in children being diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and treated with stimulant medication.
9 Coombe set to spearhead FAS alcohol intake project
May 25, 2011 By Gary Culliton
A study has commenced in the Coombe Women’s Hospital aimed at screening women for alcohol intake in pregnancy with a view to counselling. In the next number of years, an extension of the study — partly funded by the HSE — is planned to estimate the number of Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) cases diagnosed over a specific time period. Although FAS is a specific diagnosis, there are many features that need to be present, as well as a history of prenatal alcohol intake. For these reasons, the diagnosis of FAS is difficult and frequently either misdiagnosed or unconfirmed. In the Eastern Region, the HSE has reported that only one or two cases are identified each year. However, this is believed to be an under-estimate of the actual number of cases.
10 NOFAS UK – fifth edition
This fifth issue of the FETAL ALCOHOL FORUM which is the International Medical e-Network devoted to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is not available online. This E Newsletter has the latest FASD research and articles from many FASD experts. Included in this publication are 129 new research studies relating to FASD including 3 new Australian studies.
11 New research into fetal alcohol spectrum disorder offers hope
New research from the University of Victoria in British Columbia shows the benefits that regular exercise can have in improving the lives for those affected by FASD. Regular exercise can help repair brain damage caused by drinking – including in children exposed to alcohol before they were born. Article, Saanich News, May 25, 2011.
12 International Collaborations to Prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
As part of a session on Collaboration to Promote Healthy Lifestyles, Dr. Warren presented findings on strategies to prevent alcohol problems in the United States. He also described an NIAAA-funded study focusing on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) that will be conducted jointly by investigators from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, St. Petersburg State University, and the Pedagological University of the Niznhiy Novogorod Region
13 Fetal alcohol syndrome: dashed hopes, damaged lives
Since the term was coined about 40 years ago, fetal alcohol syndrome has slowly become recognized as a public health issue. Alicestine October reports from South Africa’s Western Cape province, which has the highest reported rate in the world.
Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2011;89:398–399. doi:10.2471/BLT.11.020611
14 Rewiring the brains of children with fetal alcohol syndrome
ANNE McILROY From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published Friday, May. 27, 2011 7:29PM EDT Last updated Friday, May. 27, 2011 8:37PM EDT. Angeline Lau’s 10-year-old son can lose his temper at the smallest annoyance: his sister picking up his new toy, another student singing and humming in line at school. His brain was damaged by the alcohol his birth mother drank when he was in the womb. But a 12-week program at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children has helped him
learn to better understand and regulate his emotions.
15 Drinks firm Diageo funds pregnancy health initiative
British alcohol company Diageo has agreed to fund NOFAS United Kingdom’s initiative to train 10,000 midwives in England and Wales to advise mothers on the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Article, BBC News, June 12, 2011.
16 Wisconsin FASD Treatment Outreach Program
The Wisconsin FASD Treatment Outreach Project (WTOP) provides training, clinical outreach, and technical assistance to Wisconsin’s women-specific AODA treatment program staff and ancillary service providers regarding the prevention, identification, and treatment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in their client populations.
17 Minga Marketplace
The Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Resource Store at The Asante Centre for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Minga Marketplace is The Asante Centre’s on-line FASD Resource Store. Please visit our website for FASD Resource Books, DVDs, Posters and Awareness Gifts and Promotions. If you are looking for a particular resource and we don’t carry it, please contact us and we will do our best to obtain it for you! To view Minga Marketplace’s catalogue go to www.asantecentre.org, click on the Minga Marketplace petal and then click Resource Catalogue. Minga Marketplace has added new FASD Resources to our catalogue. Here are some of the newest titles!
18 International Collaborations to Prevent Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
On January 31, NIAAA Acting Director Dr. Kenneth Warren, along with Dr. Peggy Murray, NIAAA’s Senior Advisor for International Research, participated in “Sharing Health: U.S.–Russia Collaboration in the Health Sector.” Sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., the meeting addressed the importance of chronic, or noncommunicable, diseases within the broader field of global health. Cochairing the event were former U.S. Senator William Frist and Nikolay Gerasimenko, First Vice-Chair of the Committee on Health Protection, Russian State Duma.
19 Living with FASD DVD
We turned our living with FASD comic book into an animatic on DVD. You can preview one of the five stories at www.youtube.com/user/healthyaboriginal.net. It’s called Enough Silence. The DVD, which contains all five stories from the comic book, may be ordered by sending an email with your billing address to sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net. The DVDs cost $15 each and include shipping in Canada.
20 DSM Changes: 8 Mental Disorders That May Be Kicked Out Of The ‘Psychiatrist’s Bible’
The Huffington Post First Posted: 06-23-11 09:57 AM | Updated: 06-23-11 07:22 PM
A number of mental disorders may no longer exist in 2013 — at least not under the names by which they’re currently known.
Substantial changes have been proposed for the “psychiatrist’s bible,” the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, whose fifth edition is scheduled for release in May 2013. A draft of the DSM-5 was posted Feb. 10 on a special website by the American Psychiatric Association (APA);