Book of the Month August 2018 - Dealing with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Dealing with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: a guide for social workers
​by Mary Mather

As the title clearly states this is a guide written with social workers in mind, however it is also a useful reference for parents, carers and other professionals working with FASD affected children.

With chapters that cover the historical development and growth of alcohol use and trade; the impact of alcohol on the developing foetus and much more the book takes you on a journey that enables you to build up your knowledge, understanding and hopefully by the end compassion for those children living with the effects of pre-birth exposure to alcohol, and the challenges they and their parents/carers face in supporting them through life.

Written in a concise and authorities style, it can either be read from cover to cover or easily navigated to provide answers to specific questions.  The first chapters consider how alcohol impacts the development of the unborn child, prevention and diagnosis. Chapter 7 considers why a diagnosis matters.  Chapter 8 is key in understanding the signs and symptoms associated with FASD as well as the strengths of the FASD child.  The remaining chapters focus firstly on what interventions do not work and then provides help and hope by providing advice and strategies on what does work.  At the end of each chapter there is a useful summary of key learning points. 

As adoptive parents the two chapters that stood out most where chapters 7 ‘Why diagnosis matters’ and chapter 9 ‘What dose not work and why’.   Chapter 7 states “These ‘missed diagnosed’ children will instead be viewed as ‘poorly behaved’, ‘non-compliant’ or ‘conduct disordered’ children. ... The lack of understanding has led to many parents and carers being unfairly blamed for their child’s problems and then given the wrong strategies for managing them.”  We are sure that most adoptive parents / carers are able to associate themselves with at least one of these descriptions of their child, and have felt a similar sense of blame.

Chapter 9 discusses the approaches which are not effective in helping alcohol affected children with organic brain damage.  These include: traditional parenting techniques which rewarding “good” behaviour and ignore the “bad; talking therapies, as these children have a poor understanding of complex verbal language and; being punitive to the carers of children with FASD as bizarre behaviours are often blamed on the child’s parents or the home environment. 

​The reader is left in no doubt as to the importance of diagnosis and that the wrong interventions are likely to make the child’s behaviour and family situation worse.  The final chapter provides a lists of ‘Dos’ and ‘Don’ts’ for social workers, which is set within the context of the absence of national guidelines on how to best support these children, the complexities that these children often present with, their back stories and often the gaping wholes in their life history. 

Overall we found the book to be interesting and thought provoking and although personally maybe there were not to many ‘new’ things discovered, it has helped us to consolidate our thoughts and been helpful when explaining to family/friends and the professionals.  The comparison tables in particular are really useful for this purpose.  It is defiantly a book we would recommend for both parents and professionals alike. Easy to read and access, with good references and pointers to further reading and support.  This is definetly a book worth having on the shelf and something we think you will refer back to many times.

Reviewed by Aliy Brown and Rich Brown
Adoption UK in Scotland

---