Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Just Another As there are so many worthy illnesses and disabilities, people sometimes ask why we want to single out FAS for an official day. Here are nine good reasons - one for each month of pregnancy: 1. FAS is the largest cause of mental retardation in most industrial nations 2. FAS is more than a disability - it's a social disorder which causes many of the expensive problems which plague governments, and all of us. On both a financial and personal level, we are all affected by the secondary disabilities of FAS and FAE: learning disabilities, early school drop-out, juvenile delinquency, poverty, chronic unemployment, sexual acting-out (promiscuity, early pregnancy, prostitution or sexual assault), mental illness, homelessness, violence, crimes against property, alcoholism and addiction. 3. The general public, not to mention many professionals, know very little about either FAS, or the fact that no amount of alcohol in pregnancy has been established as safe for the fetus. 4. FAS has the largest incidence of any birth defect. In Canada and the U.S., of 10,000 births, 3 out of 10,000 will have Muscular Dystrophy. There will be 4 with HIV infection, 4 with Cystic Fibrosis, 8 will be born with Spina Bifida, 10 with Down Syndrome, 20 will have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and another 100 will have Fetal Alcohol Effects, which will probably never be diagnosed. 5. The secondary disabilities of people with FAS are costing the taxpayers far more than any other disability. Some economists have estimated that every individual with FAS will cost the U.S. taxpayers a minimum of $1.9 million in his or her lifetime. 6. FAS could be totally prevented 7. People with FAS tend to have many children, who generally also have FAS. It is not unusual for a young woman with FAE to have given birth to four or five children damaged by alcohol or drugs by the time she is 21 - and the cycle continues. 8. There is no "inclusiveness" for people with FAS. In general, our society has very little compassion for those thousands of individuals whose damaged brains lead them to crime, homelessness, and addiction. Instead, we assume that they have chosen to behave as they do. Few people realize that the severely acting-out teenager, the addicted prostitute, the homeless beggar, or the man charged with killing his girlfriend's baby may all behave as they do as the results of brain damage by their mothers' drinking in pregnancy. 9. We can beat FAS, just as we have beaten other health disorders.
Prevention programs and treatment programs for alcoholic women
could dramatically reduce the incidence of FAS. Earth diagnosis
and new techniques of therapy, medical treatment, education,
and residential facilities, could allow people with FAS to lead
productive lives. And save each nation millions of dollars that
could be diverted for other disabilities. |
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