03/22/2026
As Disability Awareness Month continues, one of our recreational therapists Kim highlighted the following disability education information to share, based on her lived experience with 1 of her adopted sons.
Thank you Kim for sharing this information, your lived experience is unwavering and your work as a recreational therapist is life changing for the clients you serve.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a developmental disability that is theorized to be significantly underdiagnosed due to fear and stigma that often surround the disability, as well as lack of public knowledge of the disability itself.
FASD is a brain injury developed during prenatal exposure to alcohol and/or epigenetic exposure of alcohol to s***m prior to pregnancy. Just like all developmental disabilities, it does exist on a spectrum with individuals showing a variety of symptom clusters as well as presenting a variety of different degrees of each diagnosis criteria. Current research has found that many individuals with lower support needs presentation may initially be diagnosed first with other conditions that present similarly, such as ADHD, OCD, learning disabilities, autism, behavioral disorders, and more. An individual with FASD may have these diagnoses in addition, but their unique neurology as having a specific brain injury often provides a missing piece to help themselves and others understand very individual needs and experiences. Getting a diagnosis is difficult because there is no standard medical test and it is often a mixture of brain imaging and historical and behavioral data collection.
Common symptoms of individuals with FASD include small stature, learning delays, impulse control difficulties, emotion regulation difficulties, heightened sensory needs, processing difficulties, memory challenges (particularly related to learning cause and effect, routines, expectations, and needing to do things over and over to master a task), feeding difficulties, facial features, focus difficulties, unique communication presentation (may say words before understanding the meaning of them), increased anxiety, sleep difficulties, hyperactivity, heart or kidney weakness, and more. Because FASD is a brain injury, the amount of effect and the specific effect on the brain will differ per individual, but the majority of individuals with FASD have some degree of intellectual disability, impulse and regulation difficulty, and memory challenges. The vast majority of individuals with FASD are also diagnosed with ADHD, and an above average are diagnosed with anxiety and/or OCD, believed to be due to difficulties regulating combined with memory gaps and the effect of those gaps on learning, independence, and social relationships.
FASD is a diagnosis that presents challenges both for individuals with it and their families in that society still often responds with blame, fear, and pity rather than acceptance, which places a high mental health burden on individuals and their families. Often the joy and talents of individuals with FASD are forgotten about. While they may struggle with impulse control, they often have a lot of courage with trying new things. While learning is more difficult and requires much repetition, typically individuals with FASD develop coping systems and hardworking attitudes, with an often scientifically noted heightened level of resiliency. No known scientific reason is yet understood, but typically individuals with FASD have a strong connection to music and art and often have extraordinary creative talents or interests. Although they may struggle with the complexities and boundaries of social relationships, individuals with FASD tend to be very social and socially-minded, desiring positive and deep relationships, and they tend to be naturally affectionate, helpful, and outgoing. With early and continued acceptance and supports, many individuals with FASD thrive in their adult lives.
I wanted to attach a face to the diagnosis. This is my 6 year old, Sawyer (he calls himself Yeah-Yeah). He also has autism, ADHD, and PTSD. He is one thousand percent extrovert and has been known to lead groups of random children in singing Wheels on the Bus at the playground. His favorite things are cuddles, kids songs, vacuum cleaners, helping with the laundry, busses, the trampoline, climbing up slides, and drawing hearts. The world can be challenging for him, but he is so full of love, joy, and determination.
