Common Misconceptions About Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)
Ann P. Streissguth, Ph.D.

1 That FAS means mental retardation

  • Some people with FAS are mentally retarded, others are not.
  • People with FAS can have normal intelligence.
  • They are brain damaged and have specific areas of strengths and weaknesses.
  • It's more like people who have sustained brain injury from an auto accident.
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2 That the behaviour problems associated with FAS/FAE are all the result of poor parenting or a bad environment.

  • No, being brain damaged can lead to behavior problems because brain damaged people don't process information the same way that other people do, so they don't always behave like others expect them to.
  • Brain damaged children are hard to raise in the best environments.
  • Their parents need help and support, not criticism.
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3 That they will outgrow 'it' when they grow up.

  • Unfortunately, they do not. FAS lasts a lifetime, but the manifestations and type of problems change with each age.
  • It takes a longer period of sheltered living for brain damaged children to grow up.
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4 That to admit they are brain damaged is to give up on them.

  • Have we given up on children with other defects?
  • We need research to understand the needs of patients with FAS and how to help them. We haven't invested in that area yet. We will learn how to help them when we decide to invest in the problem.
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5 That diagnosing them will brand them for life.

  • A diagnois tells you what the problem is, helps you figure out how to treat the problem and relieves the person of having to meet unrealistic expectations.
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6 That they are unmotivated when they do not keep appointments or act in a way that we consider irresponsible.

  • Probably the explanation lies in memory problems, inability to problem solve effectively, or being simply overwhelmed.
  • Sometimes they misconstrue reality.
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7 That one agency can solve any or all of the problems alone.

  • The multiple needs of patients with FAS/FAE require multiple fronts of intervention and intense interagency cooperation
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8 That this problem will be solved with existing knowledge.

  • Research is desperately needed, and the magnitude of the problem will necessitate.
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9 That the problem will go away.

  • FAS is preventable, but alcohol is so much a part of our culture and so aggressively marketed to those least able to resist, that active prevention activities must continue on all fronts to safeguard our children's future and the future of our people.
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10 That their mothers had an easy choice not to drink during pregnancy, and through their callousness or indifference, permanently damaged their children.

  • Biologic mothers of children with FAS need help with their alcoholism and/or with birth control.
  • Pregnancy is an excellent time for alcohol abusing mothers to stop drinking, but they need help.
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11. FAE is a mild form of FAS

  • This is only true in terms of facial features, growth and physical abnormalities. The central nervous system affects of heavy prenatal alcohol and the associated secondary disabilities can be as severe in both conditions.

12 Children from FAS can't learn from their mistakes.

  • If this were true, they'd all be functioning like 2 year olds! Obviously, they can learn from their mistakes and their successes.
  • The problem is that due to their brain damage, they often take a longer time and more trials than other children: they may need tasks broken into smaller units.
  • They need very clear and immediate instructions, clear and immediate feedback and their recall may vary from day to day and time to time.
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13. All children with FAS are in trouble with the law and are sexual deviants.

  • This is simply not true. Many of the persons with FAS who are now adolescents and adults were either not diagnosed when they were young or grew up before the long term implications of this diagnosis were recognized
  • Trouble with the law and sexual deviancy are two of the 'secondary disabilities' that some people with FAS/FAE have, but certainly not all. Children with FAS need more structure, more supervision and a longer period of reliance on the family than normal children.
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14 There is nothing you can do to help children with FAS

  • Not so. An early diagnosis helps families and communities understand FAS behaviours as resulting from brain damage. An early diagnosis facilitates developing appropriate interventions before problems escalate. Both an early diagnosis and a stable, nurturant home are related to fewer secondary disabilities in people with FAS and FAE.
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15 FAS means that children are born drunk and addicted, and are likely to become alcoholics themselves.

  • The only children born 'Drunk' are those whose mothers were heavily intoxicated at the time of birth. This is a very small number of children with FAS.
  • FAS does not mean that someone will become an alcoholic, it means they have sustained some degree of brain damage in utero from the toxic effects of the alcohol drunk by their mothers.
  • Children with FAS, like other children of alcoholics, can be helped to avoid alcohol and drug abuse by understanding that they are at an increased risk due to having an alcoholic parent.
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