A Couple of Updates

For those of you who have been searching for information on FASD Peterborough’s summer camp:

We contacted FASD Peterborough to get the scoop. They informed us that the camp has been extended to two weeks this year (great news!) but registration is already full. For those of you who may have missed out this year, keep them in mind for next year. Hopefully they will continue to have funding for the camp!

In other news:

As part of our goal to disseminate FASD intervention related information, the Intervention Network Action Team (iNAT; creators of this blog and members of the Canada FASD Research Network) puts together a quarterly newsletter called the iNAT FASD Intervention News. Our newest issue will be coming out very soon!

Subscribe now to receive the newest iNAT FASD Intervention News! We highlight new intervention research (along with opportunities to participate in research), upcoming conferences and learning opportunities, FASD interventions in the news, personal stories, and intervention related organizations.

Click here to read our last newsletter.

If you are interested in having your research, organization, or personal stories featured in the iNAT newsletter, please contact us at inat@ualberta.ca

Update on 2013 Whitecrow LIFE Sessions Camps

Another FASD summer camp update!

In last year’s post on FASD summer camps for kids with FASD, we mentioned the FASD LIFE Sessions offered by Whitecrow Village. LIFE Sessions reinforce the concepts of structure, predictability/consistency, and respect through adapted activities for children with team leaders who have FASD themselves. These activities run concurrently with education sessions for adults. Children, families, and Whitecrow Village staff work and learn together to create a sense of community. All ages and family members welcome. Children under 19 must be accompanied by an adult caregiver or legal guardian.

We contacted Whitecrow Village to get the scoop on this year’s LIFE Sessions opportunities. They have let us know that they have received funding for at least 2 LIFE Sessions in BC this year and have proposed for one LIFE Session  in Alaska in late summer/early fall.

For more information about this year’s sessions and schedule, contact Whitecrow Village by phone or email, join their “Friends of Whitecrow Village” Facebook group, or check out the organization’s Facebook page. Head to the Whitecrow Village LIFE Sessions webpage to learn more about the content of the sessions.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars!

 

Parenting Children Who Have Been Prenatally Exposed 

A webinar from the North American Council on Adoptable Children aimed at developing parenting and teaching strategies through a better understanding of the effects of exposure to Alcohol and other drugs prenatally.

When: May 21, 2013. 7:00 PM Central time
Cost: $15 for NACAC Members, $20 for non-members

 

FASD Intervention Strategies Part I: A Global Approach to Interventions Appropriate to a Person with an FASD

Webinar presented by the Frontier Regional FASD Training Center. Susan Doctor, PhD discusses “global” intervention strategies aimed at all individuals with FASD and all situations that may occur.

When: May 23, 2013. 12:00 PM Central time
Cost: Free

 

Supporting Youth (12-18) with FASD

Workshop on youth with FASD from the Nanaimo FASD Society containing 4 sessions with different presenters:

• FASD 101- The Basics
• Issues Affecting Youth
• Judicious Use of Medications in FASD
• Real Life Situations- Parent Panel

When: June 1, 2013. 12:00 PM
Where: Nanaimo, BC
Cost: $20 for members, $40 for non-members

 

FASD Intervention Strategies Part II: The Hope is in the Interventions: A Comprehensive Model of Hope

Part 2 of Frontier Regional FASD Training Center’s FASD Intervention Strategies. Expanding on part 1, this presentation covers 3 types of intervention strategies: individual interventions, dynamic case management, and policy issues.

When: June 20, 2013. 12:00 PM Central time
Cost: Free

National FASD Conference & FACE 2013 – Joint Registration OPEN!

Registration is now open for the 2013 National FACE Roundtable and FASD conference in St John’s, NL.

FASD Throughout the Lifespan: September 5 & 6, 2013

14th Annual FACE Meeting: September 7, 2013

St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador

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For conference program, details and registration link, please visit:

http://www.fasdnl.ca/#!2013-conference/c16pn.

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Highlighting Lakeland FASD Summer Camp, Cold Lake, Alberta

The warmer weather and the end of the school year looming on the horizon must have parents thinking about summer plans. I’ve noticed more than a few “special needs summer camps” search terms leading people to the blog. (Yup, that’s right, WordPress shows us which search terms our readers use to find us! We use your search terms to help guide the content of our posts).

We’ve contacted the good folks at Lakeland Centre for FASD, home of one of Canada’s only FASD-specific summer camps, in order to give you camp information as soon as it is available. The Lakeland website will soon be updated, and they have been kind enough to share their brochures with us for distribution in the meantime.

Click on the image below for camp information including activities, eligibility, cost and dates:

Click on the image below for camp location and contact information:

 

Click here to access last year’s feature on special needs summer camps and stay tuned for more updates on 2013 special needs summer camps!

Responses to Media Representation of New Study on Light Drinking During Pregnancy: It Is Still Safest to Abstain from Drinking Alcohol While Pregnant

A research article entitled “Light drinking versus abstinence in pregnancy – behavioural and cognitive outcomes in 7-year-old children: a longitudinal cohort study”  was recently published in BJOG: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology.

Media reports have focused on the study’s findings suggesting that light alcohol consumption during pregnancy may not have harmful effects on behaviour and cognition in young children despite a clear statement in the conclusion of the paper that there is no known safe amount of alcohol consumption during pregnancy:

…we remain unclear on what is the level for drinking safely and how this level might be affected by individual susceptibility. Therefore, it may be that the safest option for pregnant women is to avoid drinking during their pregnancies….further work to tease out whether or not low levels of alcohol consumption during pregnancy are causally linked to developmental problems in childhood is needed. (Kelly et al., 2013, p.7)

The news releases have received responses from the Canada FASD Research Network (CanFASD) and the American  National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). Both reiterate that there is no known safe amount of alcohol during pregnancy.

We encourage our readers to read CanFASD’s response to the issue. Links to the research article abstract and BBC’s account of the findings are available through CanFASD’s response.

NOFAS ‘s response to the issue is also available online.

Reference:

Kelly Y, Iacovou M, Quigley M, Gray R, Wolke D, Kelly J, Sacker A. Light drinking versus abstinence in pregnancy – behavioural
and cognitive outcomes in 7-year-old children: a longitudinal cohort study. BJOG 2013; DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.12246.

Introducing KnowFASD: The iNAT’s interactive information and intervention website.

We recently featured our newest project, KnowFASD, in the latest edition of our iNAT newsletter. For those of you who have not yet subscribed to the iNAT newsletter, here is some information about KnowFASD:

Our goal with KnowFASD is to provide a comprehensive site where viewers can learn about the neurobehavioural deficits associated with FASD throughout the lifespan and link to intervention options.

The main homepage of the website is an interactive interface where viewers can scroll through the lifespan of individuals with FASD, with neurobehavioural issues at each developmental stage presented as they may appear in day-to-day life. By clicking on a neurobehavioural issue, viewers are directed to a “wiki” (which works in a similar fashion to Wikipedia) housing information from current research on the neurobehavioural issue at hand. Each wiki page discusses a specific neurobehavioural issue: how it presents, potential causes, and potential consequences. At the bottom of each page, a link is provided to topic-specific intervention options.

Please feel free to visit the site, pass it along, and give us your feedback or suggestions. Check back often as we continue to categorize and upload information.

Visit KnowFASD

Social Groups in BC for Young Adults with FASD

Continuing in the vein of last month’s “Supports for Adults with FASD,” we wanted to make note of a couple more great adult FASD support services offered in the province of British Columbia.

Soroptimist International of Surrey/Delta, part of an international organization for the benefit of women, hosts biweekly inclusive social and learning groups for women age 16-24 with FASD.

The group is entitled “Totally Beautiful” and meets at the Chuck Bailey Recreation Centre in Surrey, BC. Although sessions have already started, future meetings are scheduled for March 26, April 9, and April 23. Sessions will focus on building self-confidence, support, and social skills.

For event and registration information, please refer to the event listing on BC’s “Provincial Outreach Program for FASD” (POPFASD) website.

Although Soroptimist is a women’s organization, they also host a biweekly inclusive social and learning group for men age 16-26 with FASD, entitled “the C.R.E.W”- Courageuos. Respectful. Energy. Warriors.

Remaining sessions take place March 19, April 2, and April 16 in Surrey, BC.

POPFASD also has an event listing for the C.R.E.W. outlining program and registration information.

New Webinar- Identifying the invisible: Screening for Youth Offenders with FASD

The Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres presents a new webinar entitled Identifying the  Invisible: Screening for Youth Offenders with FASD. Dr. Albert Chudley, Deepa Singal (pHD student), Dr. Howard Bloom, and Sheila Burns will present  ”recent research studies that have evaluated screening tools to help identify youth involved in the justice system who are at risk for having FASD”₁

The webinar will take place Friday, Mar 8, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM EST.

Register here

1- Maynard, D.  (2013/02/21).  Identifying the invisible: Screening for Youth Offenders with FASD.  Canadian Association of                                              Paediatric Health Centres.  Retrieved February 24, 2013, from http://ken.caphc.org/xwiki/bin/view/FASDScreeningToolkit/Identifying+the+invisible__Screening+for+Youth+offenders+with+FASD

**For previous posts about FASD and the criminal justice system, visit our criminal justice category.

New FASD Learning Series Webinar: Aboriginal Communities and FASD

A new FASD Learning Series webcast takes place this Wednesday at 9:00 AM MST with Beatrice Demetrius (Manager of Genealogy, Métis Nation of Alberta), Kelsey Bradburn (Métis Children and Families Coordinator, Métis Nation of Alberta), and Sara Parker (BA, MPA, Director of intergovernmental Affairs, Métis Nation of Alberta). The topic is: Through a Métis Lens: Culturally Specific FASD Prevention and Intervention

This presentation will discuss FASD prevention and intervention efforts specific to the Métis population with a focus on Métis history and culture, relationship building, and community connections.

Register here.

Click here to sign in for the webcast once registered.

A list of upcoming webcasts  can be found on the Government of Alberta’s FASD Learning Series webpage. Archived sessions are also available.