Research Explores Needs of Parents with FASD
September 27, 2005 for immediate release
Fetal
Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is among the most common developmental
disabilities of our times. It is caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol in
utero and is a leading cause of birth defects and mental handicaps. The
available data on FASD focuses largely on the challenges faced by children
affected with FASD, and the challenges of parenting children with FASD. In the
thirty years since FASD was first recognized, an entire generation of
individuals has reached adulthood. Despite the fact that one-million Canadians
over the age of 15 may have FASD, the amount of information about adolescents
and adults who are affected by FASD remains a mere trickle.
UNBC graduate student Velma Abraham has been
working to change this. In particular, she has been studying the perspectives
of adults with FASD who go on to become parents themselves. Service providers
and parents were interviewed in Prince
George to explore the needs of adults who face the
dual challenge of parenting and living with FASD.
“The
results of the study indicate that parents with FASD require
appropriate support and
service in a number of areas such as transportation, child care, social
benefits, and adequate housing,” says Ms Abraham. “There is a pressing
need to
develop these programs. Currently, most programs are not specifically
developed
to meet the needs of parents with FASD; doing so would require that
services be
individually oriented, ongoing and long-term, proactive, and
empowering. Parents with FASD face barriers to service delivery in part
because there is a lack of
trained service providers and inadequate funding. It’s just so easy for
them to
fall between the cracks.”
People with FASD have limited cognitive skills, are
less likely to participate in the labour force, are more likely to be
the
victims of violence, and are vulnerable to cycle between prisons or
institutions – or at least to live in substandard conditions. Although
FASD was
first diagnosed in the late 1960s, it remains difficult to accurately
diagnose adults who suffer from the disorder and therefore provide
access to appropriate
services.
The
research was initiated by the Parenting Services division of Northern
Health
and undertaken by Ms Abraham for her master’s degree in Psychology,
which was
completed under the supervision of professor Cindy Hardy. Ms Abraham is
a
citizen of the Commonwealth of Dominica, a small country of 87,000
people in the West Indies. She came to UNBC after completing a
bachelor’s degree from Malaspina University College
in Nanaimo and received a bursary from the Centre for Addictions Research of BC to conduct her research..
Contact:
Cindy Hardy, Psychology professor, UNBC - 250.960.5814
or Rob van Adrichem, Director of Media and Public Relations, UNBC - 250.960.5622