What you need to know
It is important to have HIGH LEARNING EXPECTATIONS for children who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Encourage use of the core educational curriculum and modify it in order to meet the individual needs of the child.
Children with FASD usually show some degree of language disability or delayed language development. They often have significant problems in communicating regardless of whether or not their general development is delayed. This difficulty with language affects social communication and academic learning.
Students with FASDs may have trouble understanding higher order language and have difficulty conveying their message. Many times, children with FASDs have a hard time differentiating between talking and communicating.
Individuals with FASDs may have many learning challenges.
- They often have higher rates of learning disabilities and problematic classroom behaviors.
- Some individuals with FASDs have low IQ (intellectual disability), but many individuals will have normal or above average IQs.
- An individual’s challenges are often more severe than what would be predicted by their cognitive abilities.
- They often have better performance in reading and language, and poorer ability in math.
Individuals with FASDs often have strengths which can help them overcome their challenges.
- It is important to remember that not every individual with FASDs will have the same strengths and weaknesses. The effects are very individualized and specific to each person.
General overview of potential areas of difficulty
- Cognitive
- Executive functioning
- Behavioral impairments
- Verbal and spatial learning
- Planning
- Working memory
- Cognitive flexibility
- Inhibition
- Problems solving
- Reading
- Spelling and math skills
- Discrepancy between high verbal skills and inability to communicate effectively
Specific areas of difficulty that may occur
- Visual and Auditory processing
- Individuals may not respond to traditional teaching methods
- They may act out when frustrated or lose control with sensory overload
- Language
- Skills often appear much greater than the child’s actual ability to communicate effectively
- Executive Skills
- Executive skills (sometimes referred to as executive functions) are those processes which allow an individual to manage themselves and their resources in order to achieve a goal.
- These are high level cognitive functions that allow individuals to organize their behavior through planning and organizing
- Individuals need to be able to sustain attention, persist to complete a task, manage emotions, and monitor thoughts to work efficiently
- Executive skills have been defined as the directive capacities of the mind, which cue the use of other mental abilities
- These skills are controlled by the frontal lobes of the brain. The brain damage caused by prenatal alcohol exposure can affect the frontal lobes of the brain, which in turn causes executive dysfunction.
- Inhibition Difficulties
- Inhibition is the ability to stop you from responding to distractions and to think before acting
- It also includes the ability to resist the urge to say something, or the ability to delay gratification in the present for more important, long-term goals
- Signs of inhibition difficulties
- Easily distracted
- Impulsive
- Interrupts
- Chooses smaller, immediate reward over a larger, delayed reward
- Gives up quickly on difficult or challenging tasks
- Begins tasks without having listened to or read all the instructions
- Answers questions quickly and then changes their answers
- Talks back
- Difficulty waiting for their turn
- Inhibition is the ability to stop you from responding to distractions and to think before acting
- Flexibility
- Flexibility is the ability to move smoothly from one situation or task to another and the ability to respond appropriately to the new situation or task
- Signs of flexibility challenges
- Persists in one approach to a situation/problem
- Unable to explore multiple approaches to a problem or task
- Difficulty with open-ended questions or tasks
- Becomes easily frustrated with changes in plans, routines, or situations
- Younger children may exhibit temper tantrums when faced with a change of situation or task
- Difficulty adjusting when the directions for a task change during the task
- Emotional control
- Emotional control refers to the individual’s ability to manage their emotions
- It is important to be able to control emotions so that rational thoughts and actions can be used to approach situations and tasks
- Signs of emotional difficulties
- Exhibits inappropriate reactions to situations/tasks
- Over-reacts to situations/tasks
- Easily frustrated when tasks become challenging
- Displays emotions that may be inappropriate for the situation
- Makes negative statements about the situation/task
- Anxious at a level inconsistent with the situation/task
- Slow to recover from disappointments
- May exhibit tantrums, mood changes, or outbursts of temper
- Emotional control refers to the individual’s ability to manage their emotions
- Initiation
- Initiation is an individual’s ability to begin a task or activity independently
- Initiation also involves the ability to generate ideas, responses, or problem-solving strategies
- Signs of the initiation difficulties
- Difficulty getting started with tasks
- Needs reminders to get started on tasks
- Slow to move from completed task/activity to the next task/activity
- May need to be reminded of schedule
- Waits for another member of a group to initiate group activities
- Initiation is an individual’s ability to begin a task or activity independently
- Working memory
- Working memory is necessary for an individual to hold information in their memory while completing a task or activity
- Signs of working memory difficulties
- Unable to follow directions
Strengths of individuals with FASDs
- Highly Verbal
- Visual learners
- Artistic
- Musical
- Mechanical
- Athletic
- Friendly
- Generous
- Outgoing
- Affectionate
- Determined
- Willing
- Helpful
Characteristics in elementary school aged children with FASDs
- Attention difficulties
- Hyperactivity
- Language difficulties
- Delayed development of language or difficulties with expressive and/or receptive language
- Learning disabilities
- Intellectual disabilities
- Memory difficulties
- Impulsivity
- May result in lying, stealing, or defiant acts
- Poor judgment
- Short attention span, poor coordination
- Difficulty with both fine and gross motor skills
- Social difficulties
- May include immaturity
- Difficulty making choices
- Being overly friendly and/or being easily influenced
Characteristics in adolescents and young adults with FASDs
- Difficulties with abstractions
- Difficulty understanding or anticipating consequences
- Low academic achievement
- Trouble keeping up with school
- Low self-esteem
- Memory difficulties
- More pronounced impulsivity
- Lying
- Stealing
- Defiant acts
- Poor judgment
- Poor impulse control
- Cannot distinguish between public and private behaviors
- Must be reminded of concepts on a daily basis
- Social difficulties
- Immaturity
- Difficulty making choices
- Overly friendly
- Easily influenced
- Low self-esteem from recognizing that they are different from their peers.
What you can do
Tips for working with children with FASD
- Offer clear, concise, and simple directions
- Modify assignments as needed
- Break down assignments into small pieces
- Use repetition, practice
- Use literal terms and be concrete
- Directly teach figurative language. High exposure to this type of language can improve understanding
- Be consistent
- Transitions are hard. Use cues!
- Simple environment with few distractions (1:1 or small groups)
- Be specific and give directions step by step
- Supervise. Individuals can be naïve, gullible, and lack social skills
- Learn how to tell when child is getting frustrated
- Often lack ability to make logical decision
- Must be taught how to make reasonable choices and be given opportunities to practice
- Work on cognitive therapy around executive functioning (planning/organizing/completing) can help students stay on task and focused on the goal at hand
- Routine
- Keep family and school routines as consistent as possible
- If the routine or schedule changes, remind the child about changes