10 Ideas for Working with Kids with FASD - Use Teach Abilities #1

In my now 20 years of working with my kids I have learned many things.  With working with the hundreds of parents through our Parenting FASD closed Facebook group and with the literature a few threads of how to work with these kids come to light.  Every day I will share one of the Teach Abilities and just remember no two kids are alike and what works for some may not work for others.

This is meant for a generalized look at working with the kids.  Teach to the abilities
and support the areas that they struggle with understanding of how prenatal alcohol exposure can affect children and adults learn and see our world.

Kids with FASD will have many strengths and challenges.  They often say that children with FASD will be developmentally half their chronological age.  While that is the generalization,  there will be many areas of uneven and spikes of learning and development.  Each child is different and learning where they function educationally, developmentally and socially is very important for success.

Too high of expectations due to their often times advanced verbal capabilities may be very misleading as they cannot perform at that level educationally, developmentally or emotionally.  Too low they will tune out and act out.  Learning disabilities and challenges are all apart of children/adults on the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum.

Kids with FASD struggle to keep up with their peers and when stressed will use behavior as language to show they are struggling.

Some children with FASD will have many autistic tendencies and struggle with social interactions, while others will be overly outgoing, but struggle with social cueing.  Children with FASD can struggle.  We need to lessen the struggle.

We have made sure with our kids to have adequate testing and assessments to know where they are functioning and not always relying on what the school says.  We made sure to  know where they are educationally, developmentally, and socially so we can modify, adapt and advocate for their needs. Matching the learning to where they child was at that time and many times teaching, reteaching and making sure that that learning was generalized into other environments.

Neuropsychological assessments at key learning stages so we can plan ahead for what they need. We have found that a psychologist or developmental pediatrician helpful in helping us along the way.

Meeting them at their developmental level not chronological age is paramount, doing it with being sensitive to their AGE.

Anny


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