fasd maine
Families Moving Forward (FMF)
Virtual Training
Next cohort starts April 28, 2025
Application deadline April 7, 2025
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FMF Foundations is a CDC-recommended, evidence-based behavioral intervention for families raising children (ages 3 to 13) with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) or FASD, and challenging behavior.
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Best suited for mental health providers, it offers ready-to-use materials and clinical strategies that are well organized to support families navigating complex situations, including early adversity and family stress.
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Training dates are April 28, 29, May 6, 13, 19 & 20, 2025.
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Read more here
National Learning Collaborative
is back!
Please join:
Pediatric February 2025
Prenatal September 2025
As part of their five-year, $4.75 million award from HRSA, Proof Alliance and Boston Medical Center are collaborating to bring the SAFEST Choice National Learning Collaborative to communities across the country.
This program helps to reduce prenatal alcohol exposure, support parents and families, and improve outcomes for children with suspected or diagnosed FASD.
SAFEST Choice has increased diagnostic capacity and care for those affected by prenatal alcohol exposure here in Maine.
We are proud of our Maine providers and their teams who have participated in this training since the first cohort in 2021!
More information and to register:
The Strengths and Positive Influences of Children With
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Carson Kautz-Turnbull, Tangeria R. Adams, and Christie L.M. Petrenko
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People with disabilities have not been adequately represented in strengths-based research.
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This study is the first to examine strengths and positive influences of young children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
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Caregivers reported wide-ranging strengths and positive influences.
FASD Collaborative Project
Free recorded webinars here.
Some topics covered:
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9 Core Messages: What Everyone Should Know About Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
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Caregiver Success! Parents of Adults with FASD Share What Works
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A Functional Approach to FASD Diagnosis
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Educational Care for Children Affected by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
FASD Support Groups online and in person here
FASD Collaborative participating organizations here.
75% of children with an FASD have an attention problem and may be diagnosed with ADHD without considering other diagnoses. Attention deficits in children with an FASD without ADHD may derive from deficiencies in:
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executive functioning skills
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short-term memory
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the ability to shift attention
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slower processing speed
Medications for ADHD may worsen symptoms in children with FASD.
11 yo child with parent concerns about attention, hyperactivity, and sleep
FAQs
Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
"Pregnant women do not cause FASD. Alcohol causes FASD."
Why is alcohol an unsafe substance in pregnancy?
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Alcohol is a teratogen. All teratogens (e.g., thalidomide or rubella) cause birth defects. Alcohol can cause damage to any system of the body. It is particularly destructive to the brain of the fetus, causing damage to the structures, function, neurochemistry, and the brain's ability to grow and repair. Studies show, there is no safe level of prenatal alcohol exposure.
Read this to better understand how one could not have designed a substance with more capacity for harm given the perfect storm of factors:
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the placenta is not a barrier to alcohol
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recurrent cycle of fetal swallowing and elimination of alcohol
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amniotic fluid acts as a reservoir for alcohol
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Go here for more FAQs
2025 FASD Respect Act S.139
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 31, 2025 – U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), along with five other original co-sponsors, have introduced legislation that will advance comprehensive Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) support services, public health prevention, and research programs across agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Cosponsors from Maine thus far, Senators Collins and King.
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Provide a standard case definition for FASD
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Promote and fund education, awareness and services across community agencies and systems of care serving individuals across the lifespan - infants through adults
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Provide funding to State and Tribal Systems for FASD Services throughout the lifespan
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Create Centers for Excellence to guide states and other systems of care in expanding diagnostic capacity, public awareness and outreach about FASD, and provide training and technical assistance on prevention, as well as supports and interventions for people diagnosed with FASD.
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Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are disabilities that last a lifetime. In these videos, individuals and families share their stories about what it’s like to have FASDs. They also share experiences and tips about diagnosis, support, stigma, and resilience.
The Family Navigator program provides individuals living with FASD, their family members, caregivers and supporters with expert, confidential support and referrals.
Director of Family Navigation
FASD Family Navigator available
9am-10pm ET M- F
202-785-4585
or complete our online form
Racial and ethnic disparities in psychological care for individuals with FASD:
a dis/ability studies and critical race theory perspective toward improving prevention, assessment/diagnosis, and intervention.
FASD can affect people regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES).
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FASD is identified at higher rates in Native American, Black, and low-SES communities compared to White and middle/upper class communities.
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This pattern is the opposite in other neurodevelopmental disabilities such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder , with both diagnoses given to White individuals more frequently than Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
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Greater attention to these disparities is needed within FASD and is relative to other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Why No Alcohol During Pregnancy is the Safest Choice
Dr. Vincent Smith MD MPH
Division Chief of Newborn Medicine at Boston Medical Center
"Although parents with a substance use disorder* have a higher likelihood of having a child with FASD, most children with FASDs are born to parents who do not have a substance use disorder."
Prenatal alcohol exposure and potential harm can also occur before a person is aware they are pregnant.
Children with prenatal alcohol exposure come from every social, economic, racial, and ethnic group.
In the United States, nearly 1 in 7 pregnant people report alcohol use in the past 30 days.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises:
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There is no amount of alcohol during pregnancy that is risk-free.
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There is no kind of alcohol during pregnancy that is risk-free.
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There is no time during pregnancy when alcohol consumption is risk-free.
Read complete article here
*Substance use disorder is a treatable chronic disease
in FASD
Dr. Jerrod Brown
This episode of the podcast Living with FASD: Candid Conversations
with Patti Kasper explores the intersection of suggestibility with confabulation and compliance, particularly in high-pressure situations like legal interrogations or in therapy or medical sessions. Dr. Brown guides us through the vulnerabilities that individuals with FASD face.
Top Legal Experts Highlight FASD in the Justice System
"There is no absence of decisions being made about youth with FASD. There is an absence of knowledge to inform these decisions.”
Peter Choate PhD RSW
Leading experts in the area of FASD and the criminal justice system presented on a range of topics at the 9th International Research Conference on Adolescents and Adults with FASD, held in Seattle, Washington. The pre-conference featured five panel sessions on “The Verdict is in Your Court: Advancing Justice for Individuals with FASD Across Judicial Systems.” Video recordings of these five expert panels:
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FASD-Informed Innovations in Court Practices
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FASD-informed Policing
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The importance of effective legal representation for people with FASD as defendants, witnesses, and victims
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Juvenile Court
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Child Welfare and Family Court
supports parents who are raising children, teens or young adults with brain-based differences and challenging behavioral symptoms. We are a safe space for parents who have historically felt like there isn't a place for them in the parenting advice world. At Brain First Parenting, we see each child as a unique individual with a unique brain, who deserves...
FASD is often misdiagnosed because many of the characteristics look the same as other mental health disorders, so it is important to get an FASD assessment from a trained professional.
This checklist tool is not intended as a diagnostic assessment, but as a way to see if FASD is something to consider when talking to your/your child’s health care provider.
More on living with an FASD
Thank you to PROOF Alliance for this information.
Go to "For the person with an FASD"
"Developmental alcohol exposure is exhausting: Sleep and the enduring consequences of alcohol exposure during development."
Prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading nongenetic cause of human intellectual impairment.
The long-term impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure are diverse:
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Neuropathology
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Behavioral, cognitive, and emotional impairments
Additionally negative effects also occur on the physiological level:
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Endocrine
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Cardiovascular
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Immune systems
Among these diverse impacts is sleep disruption. In this review we describe:
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How prenatal alcohol exposure affects sleep
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Potential mechanisms of those effects
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Outline the evidence that sleep disruption across the lifespan may be a mediator of some cognitive and behavioral impacts of developmental alcohol exposure, and thus may represent a promising target for treatment.
Wilson, Donald, et al.Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews Volume 158, March 2024
Prenatal exposure to alcohol and its impact on substance use in adulthood.
"Overall, our findings, based on 30 years’ worth of data on a prenatal birth cohort, suggest that even relatively moderate exposure to alcohol during pregnancy, a critical sensitive period for brain development, might alter neural reward processing in the offspring and contribute to the intergenerational transmission of risk for substance use disorders."
Executive Function (EF)
in Individuals with FASD?
Exercise!
Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) struggle with EF deficits:
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problem solving
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planning
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shifting tasks
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verbal and nonverbal fluency
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impulsivity
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working memory
These abilities are required for successful functioning in society.
For FASD (and ASD):
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Exercise interventions were associated with large improvements in executive function (EF).
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Exercise may be a potentially cost-effective and readily implementable intervention to improve executive function in these populations.
Structured exercise has been shown to:
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directly cause structural and physiological changes in the brain by increasing blood flow
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results in upregulation of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
BDNF plays an integral role in:
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hippocampal functioning*
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neuroplasticity
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learning
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memory
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formation of new neurons and neuroprotection
*The hippocampus is an area of the brain particularly affected by prenatal alcohol exposure.
Read recently published research and reports on FASD