'FASD Informed' Foster Carer
- somersetmiracles
- Oct 16
- 3 min read
For carers supporting children and young adults with prenatal alcohol exposure, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and co-occurring complex needs.
An 8 week specialist online course tailored to support you to how to identify and adapt to emerging needs, offer strategies to support existing needs and to navigate forward planning:
'FASD Informed' Stage 1:
Identifying needs; 1:1 session booked at a time/date to suit you with an FASD Specialist, providing you space to talk about the challenges you face, considering symptoms & 'behaviours', education and emerging needs.
If you have not been placed with the child yet, we can use this session part way through the course to top up your toolkit or to support you once placed.
'FASD Informed' Stage 2:
What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?….. with no assumptions, we start on the same page at a gentle pace; we consider the damage of the brain and nervous system; how this impacts the whole child or young adult.
What should you consider to adapt your methods of communication to support slow processing speed?
What is confabulation?
How can you tune in to support the sensory needs of a child or adult with FASD?
What should you look for if the child or adult is known to mask to 'blending in' to keep safe?
How can you build an attachment with a brain injured child or adult to help them to feel safe?
'FASD Informed' Stage 3:
Interpreting theory into practice, processing speed, transitions, sexualised symptoms, hyper-fixation, perseverance, confabulation, fluctuating capacity, differentiating needs, providing strategies in the moment to consider to support the spectrum; digging deeper into the practical considerations with case study reflection.
'FASD Informed' Stage 4:
FASD Education & Support; we will adapt the session to suit the challenges you might face with School and look at support using FASD Strategies and good practice in Education for children previously looked after.
'FASD Informed' Stage 5:
FASD Informed Good Practice in SEND and EHCP Reviews; so many of us struggle with knowing what to say, what to expect and what options we have to get support for the children we care for… we will help you navigate this journey.
We will consider what ‘good’ education practice looks like and provide examples of structured plans with a differentiated curriculum to support needs.
‘FASD Informed' Stage 6:
Transition Planning; change of placements, routine and environment significantly impacts children and young people with FASD and a history of trauma, where we look at minimising the impact of change, providing ideas for Schools/Social care to plan way ahead to consider time lines for transitions.
‘FASD Informed' Stage 7:
What is FASD? Bespoke session where as a group we look at some of the pressing challenges you face, we open the questions and answers session out to you where you will get time to consider others experiences and transfer that to your own.
‘FASD Informed' Stage 8:
Ongoing support and planning; this session will be tailored to suit you where we will recap on learning and plan where we would like to go next. We aim throughout the course to establish a peer to peer group where we might plan family activity days or coffee mornings. We will also open this session up to questions and answers.
In practical terms, what would the indicators be for a carer be when considering how FASD impacts a young person’s life story?
Although individual indicators vary greatly, this is an illustrative example of what life might be like for someone with an FASD profile:
I might appear to be very articulate but have problems understanding what you have just told me, as well as keeping track of what I was asked to do to correct my behaviour.
I might be dreadful at keeping appointments and generally organising my life, including poor money concepts and an inability to either plan or follow through on other’s plans for me.
I might be very impulsive without thinking of the consequences; and, even if corrected, I may do it again because I have great difficulty learning from experience.
I might appear truculent and challenging and act inappropriately for my age.
I might be anxious and developing mental health issues because I am being bullied or misunderstood so often.
I might have real skills and talents I am unable to demonstrate consistently because my life is so disorganised and stressful.
I might say I am Ok but I am not.
(Hayes, Moritz and Reid, 2020)
Each session consists of 60 minute bitesize online live delivery where the needs of the child are considered and tailored for.
We host evening and daytime sessions, please identify which you would prefer when making your enquiry to book.
Additional 1:1 sessions or consultation can be provided on request.
Includes FASD Informed Certification & FASD Resources
For more details or to book email: info@fasdinformed.co.uk
