Does your adopted child have difficulty in school, with relationships, and processing information? Have you ever wondered if your child may have been exposed to alcohol while in utero, but thought there was no way to ever know for sure? Some children have facial features that indicate fetal alcohol exposure. Some of these indicating features are small eyes, low-set ears, or lack of a groove between the upper lip and nose to name a few. For children without these features we could only guess about fetal alcohol effect if we did not have contact with birth family. Now Researchers... more

My friend Rachel had the following observation about her daughter’s reaction to consequences during one of my recent posts. I wanted to share it with you because she offers insight into the mixed processing of children with fetal alcohol syndrome. She also shares the frustration that so many of us feel while parenting our children with fetal alcohol syndrome when they don’t seem to learn anything from their experiences.

“Things just happen to her (surprise!!) and then she is happy or unhappy. That is the way she experiences life anyway,... more

One of my readers commented on one of my blogs that my teenage daughter with FAS might be having trouble with self- regulating. She felt it would explain why my daughter is only able to control herself while I am at home. When I leave, even for brief periods, she inevitably gives the person in charge a difficult time; she sneaks, lies, abuses her assumed authority, and destroys property; for several years, my own mother wouldn’t baby-sit for her. The suggestion that she couldn’t behave because she is unable to regulate herself intrigued... more

In some ways I feel sorrier for the children that only have FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effect) as opposed to those that have FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.) Why would I say something so strange? Think about it for a minute, if your child has FAS, anybody can look at your child and tell that something isn’t quite right. If a child looks somewhat abnormal, people tend to lower their expectation for that child. That in turn can make life somewhat easier for the affected child and the parents of the child.

However, a child who has FAE tends to look completely... more