'FASD Informed' Higher Education
- somersetmiracles
- Nov 19
- 4 min read
Become 'FASD Informed' to foster a deeper understanding in creating a more supportive environment for those impacted by Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol.
This course is designed for professionals working in higher education academic settings:
Student Welfare Officers, SEND Coordinator (SENDCo) or similar leadership roles to coordinate and support students with special educational needs, Student Advisor, Student Union members, Lecturers, Head of Department, Key workers, Scribe, Exam Support, Accommodations Halls Staff, Student Nurse Pastoral, Technical Support, and Direct Student Support
This programme considers the complexities of supporting, for many if not tuned in to, a hidden disability; where Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is the most severe of the neurodevelopmental disorders in terms of its far-reaching impact on functioning across the lifespan, and requires a unique approach to support and understanding.
Suicide ideation, self harm and suicide is much higher in FASD where in some areas research identifies suicide as high as 3 - 12 % higher than the general population.
People with FASD experience a range of vulnerabilities both from the impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure on the brain and body, and from the adverse life experiences commonly associated with this disability. Research points to several individual, relational and environmental reasons for the high risk of suicidality among people with FASD.
Supporting academic accommodations therefore, should be much more than making extra time for exams and modified course materials. Its about consideration of a personalised plan for mental health needs, tuning in to day to day challenges in slow processing speed, struggles in reading social cues and making peer to peer relationships.
Students with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder need access to personalised support, such as bespoke counselling (to comply with the Adoption/Kinship Acts), study skills assistance, and a dedicated contact person, like a Disability Advisor, to coordinate multi-disciplinary support.
It is therefore crucial that every University identifies and supports prenatal alcohol exposure in its student community as early as possible to consider the vulnerabilities and to risk assess.
Those who are not appropriately trained or knowledgeable can often make assumptions due to the fact that many individuals with FASD can superficially present as more able than they actually are or where their ‘symptoms’ are misinterpreted as ‘behaviour’ due to spiky cognitive and neurodevelopmental profile.
There is also often the assumption that symptoms of FASD will improve over time, or an individual will outgrow their emotion regulation challenges or poor adaptive functioning for example, when unfortunately, the opposite is true; the developmental gap continues to widen and diverge away from the norm over the course of time.
This necessitates increased, rather than decreased, need for support and services. FASD must be understood as an enduring brain injury, similar to any other acquired brain injury.
We provide a bespoke programme to consider young adults with complex presentations of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Fluctuating Capacity and overlapping complex needs.
Our 'FASD Informed' Stage 4 programme offer's bitesize sessions tailored to your timetable, where we can adjust the time to suit your team in or out of academic hours or on inset.
FASD Informed™ Stage 1: What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?….. with no assumptions, all the team start on the same page.... at a gentle pace; we consider the damage of the brain and nervous system and how this impacts learning and development.
90 minute online delivery with Director of FASD
FASD Informed™ Stage 2: Interpreting theory into practice, considering the vulnerability; processing speed, transitions, sexualised symptoms, hyper-fixation, fluctuating capacity, perseverance, confabulation, differentiating the curriculum, providing strategies to consider to support the spectrum; digging deeper into the practical considerations with case study reflection.
90 minute online delivery with Director of FASD
FASD Informed™ Stage 3: Supporting steps forwards, digging deep into 'switching' techniques, looking outside the box, meeting emerging needs, planning well ahead for transitions, job coaching.
90 minute online delivery with Director of FASD
FASD Informed™ Stage 4: FASD NICE Quality Standards, OFSTED good practice informing becoming 'FASD Responsive'; personalised care, fluctuating capacity, risk assessment, safeguarding, reflection and case management; forward planning.
90 minute online delivery with Director of FASD
We also offer an online 1:1 consultation service and attendance of meetings for stuck or complex cases.
'FASD-informed practice' acknowledges the need to see beyond an individual’s presenting behaviours, to consider symptoms and to ask.....
‘What does this young person need?’
rather than
‘What is wrong with this young person ?’
We dig deep to tune into the students that you support where we tailor our programme around individual needs.
With up to 428 co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions common to FASD, spanning across 18 of 22 chapters of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) -10. The most prevalent disease conditions include congenital malformations, deformities, and chromosomal abnormalities, mental and 'behavioural' disorders..... we consider the 'symptoms' and look for a positives ways to interpret and scaffold needs.
All participants will receive 'FASD Informed' certification, resources and membership of our 'FASD Responsive' network of professionals.
'FASD Informed' (TM) Education delivered by a strong experienced qualified team, tailoring a bespoke service to support your team in becoming FASD Responsive(TM)
To book (min 5 candidates) or to find out more email us: info@fasdinformed.co.uk
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