Tag: FASD
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FASD Respect Act: A Historic Win for Advocacy in 2025
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Month 2025 will be one that goes down in history. This is the year that FASD Respect Act language is thisclose to being enacted by Congress. For the first time in twenty years, federal programs to address FASDs are moving towards being reauthorized, marking a renewed commitment to FASD-informed supports across…
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The Stigma of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Explained
Not every incidence of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) results in a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASDs). How can we get funders to understand this and reduce the stigma?
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FASD Awareness: Analyzing ‘Princess Margaret and the Curse’
I was so excited to read this new book, Princess Margaret and the Curse by Meryle Secrest, that asks us to consider whether Princess Margaret had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. It came out on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day, which is the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, in a…
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Understanding FASD: Awareness Month Insights
It’s the first week of FASD Awareness Month, but not enough people know that. In fact, too few know that FASD stands for “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” and that no one in the US has FASD. Rather, they have AN FASD, because FASD is an umbrella term for the birth defects caused by prenatal alcohol…
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Alcohol During Pregnancy: Understanding Risks and Misconceptions
In the past week, two different studies came out about prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). One, the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC), surveyed more than 1,600 adults in the United States regarding maternal health (eurekalert). The other, published in the Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research (Hoboken), surveyed more than 1,500 women in the United Kingdom, then had them…
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The Crisis in FASD Diagnoses: A Call to Action
In the US, we absolutely have a dearth of those qualified to diagnose Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. There are something like nine diagnostic centers across the country. Just doing some quick math, if we consider that 5% of the population has an FASD, and that consideration is on the LOW end, that means that there…
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Why Neonatal Drug Testing is Essential for Infant Health
When I check my blood pressure on my own at my local Meijer or CVS, it’s more than fine. However, I have white coat syndrome, which means that nearly every time I have my blood pressure checked at the doctor’s office, it’s unreasonably high. But you know what that doesn’t mean? It doesn’t mean that…
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Understanding Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome: A Growing Concern
Prenatal Fentanyl Exposure is the latest in the list of drugs, including alcohol, of course, causing abnormalities among newborns. We first heard about Fetal Fentanyl Syndrome in 2023 (Science). In contrast, we first heard about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) in 1973, but later we learned about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders that don’t have the sentient…
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Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: What You Need to Know
I’m fresh out of the 9th International Research Conference on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, and my mind is reeling from the information I learned or relearned. For example, I’m trying not to be disheartened. I really am. But this is a lot… And the FASD world needs more people from all walks of life to…
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Prenatal Substance Exposure: A Growing Crisis
“Nearly 1 in 12 newborns in the United States in 2020 – or about 300,000 infants – were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana or cocaine before they were born. Exposure to these substances puts these newborns at a higher risk for premature birth, low birth weight and a variety of physical and mental disabilities” (The Conversation). Unfortunately, this number…
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