FASD is the umbrella term used to describe a range of disabilities that may include physical birth defects and health problems including developmental delays, learning disabilities, memory problems, as well as difficulties in communicating feelings and understanding consequences.
-http://fasd.alberta.ca/
Code: 42, 44
Characteristics &/or Observable Behaviours
Characteristics
· small for age
· small eyes
· smooth philtrum (area between the nose and the lip)
· thin upper lip
· abnormal muscle tone
Younger Children
· Lack of social awareness.
· Social deficit.
· Trouble getting along/playing with other kids.
· playing ‘alongside’ rather than playing ‘with’ other kids.
· Does not like going to bed at night.
· Would eat indefinitely if allowed.
Later Childhood
· Poor social problem solving.
· Inappropriate social actions.
· Difficulty understanding others’ viewpoints.
· Responding inaccurately/inappropriately to others’ feelings or actions.
· Difficulty controlling emotions.
· Difficulty focussing on abstract tasks.
Adolescence and Adulthood
· Increased social difficulty
· Missing social cues
· Lack of control in social situations
· Memory difficulties
· Difficulty with abstract concepts
Teaching Strategies & Resources
1. Teach the concepts of true and false, real and imaginary, and fiction and nonfiction.
- Teach younger students what pretending involves.
- Use costumes and props to demonstrate taking on other roles, such as pretending to be a police officer, superhero or animal.
- Use these situations to discuss the difference between pretending and lying.
- Help students distinguish storytelling from lying by providing them with positive opportunities to tell stories.
- When you suspect students may be storytelling, ask them a simple question, “truth or story?” This cues students to stop and think, and get back to the truth.
2. Alternate active and quiet activities throughout the day. Children with FASD need frequent periods of gross motor activity to help focus for quiet. structured activities.
- work with the student to develop a plan for when they feel overwhelmed in the classroom (go for a walk)
- that could be: moving to a quiet place, getting a drink of water, or taking a short walk around the school
3. Create structure in their routine. Use verbal cues that enforce routine or redirect their focus.
- provide checklists that students can use both at their desk and at different learning areas around the room
- encourage the use of self-talk as students follow their checklists
- provide pictures and words to describe the routine
- teach routines with correction, not consequence
- encourage students to create their own sequential list of activities and tasks they need to accomplish
4. Teach time concepts.
- use pictures, charts, and large visuals to teach time
- post a visual chart with the daily schedule and times of activities
- have students tape their own time schedules to their desks or in a specific place in their notebooks or binders
- use classroom calendars to show students there is a predictable pattern within the year
- advise students in advance of possible routine changes
5. Build skills on participating in class discussion and activities
- ensure students have stopped the task they are on before giving new instruction
- use nonverbal and prearranged signals to regain the students attention
- use planning and pacing to increase students capacity to attend and follow instruction (moving to new areas, clear/simple directions)
- use visuals to support instruction
- allow for movement around the room
Links &/or Sources
· http://fasd.alberta.ca/
· http://education.alberta.ca/admin/supportingstudent/diverselearning/fasd.aspx
· http://www.knowfasd.ca/
· http://fasd.alberta.ca
· http://www.fasdwaterlooregion.ca/at-school/fasd-classroom
· http://www.gov.mb.ca/healthychild/fasd/fasdeducators_en.pdf
· http://www.education.gov.yk.ca/pdf/fasd_manual_2007.pdf
· http://www.gov.mb.ca/healthychild/fasd/fasdearly_en.pdf