You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Adoption’ category.
After what seems like far too long, KnowFASD is back in operation! To those of you who use the site regularly and have been waiting for its return, thank you for your patience.
If you have never visited the site, please feel free to drop by and check it out! Take a browse through the interactive home page and learn more/find help on the site’s wiki.
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 upload information, links, and resources.
Telegraph Journal, an online media source from New Brunswick, recently published an article about the New Brunswick Adoption Foundation’s “Peer-to-Peer Adoption Support Network”.
The article speaks to some of the challenges involved in adopting a child, and more specifically, a child who has come out of the foster care system. As most of our readers already know, many individuals with FASD end up in foster and adoptive families.
Research has shown that raising a child with FASD can have a significant impact on the family. Also, as the article states, parents can be the biggest advocate for their children; especially a child with special needs. The difficulties of raising a child with FASD, compounded by the stresses involved with adoption and the need to create a stable supportive home environment, can create a huge need for support in adoptive families.
The “Peer-to-Peer Adoption Support Network” in New Brunswick is here to help! The support network is geared toward those who have adopted children out of foster care. A network of volunteers connects adoptive families with resources and other families who have been through the same process. The support network is in an 18 month pilot project phase in 3 counties in New Brunswick, with hopes of expansion.
The Telegraph Journal has recently changed its article access to subscription only, but you can read the full article on “fasdnews” through Yahoo! Groups.
Don’t live in New Brunswick? Check out “Canada Adopts” for other adoptive and foster parent support groups in Canada.
References:
Morrissette, P. J. (2001). Fetal alcohol syndrome: parental experiences and the role of family counsellors. The Qualitative Report, 6 (2). Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/ssss/QR/QR6-2/morrissette.html
Olson, H. C., Oti, R. Gelo J. & Beck, S. (2009). “Family matters:” fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and the family. Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews, 15(3), 235-49.
Original article source: http://www.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1459551
FASD Interventions Across the Lifespan 