'FASD Informed' Multi-disciplinary Team (Stage 4)

Essential safeguarding training for teams supporting children, young people and adults with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (PAE), Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and co-occuring complex needs where there are challenges across education, health and care.

This bespoke course is designed for multi-agency teams where needs are complex, presentations may be stuck, and safeguarding, educational, medical or home challenges require a thoughtful, co-ordinated response.

We tailor the programme to strengthen reflective practice, deepen understanding of neurodevelopmental trauma, and support personalised care and risk management planning across the lifespan.

Who this course is for

• Team Around the Child or Family

• Child in Need (CiN) teams and meetings

• Safeguarding and adult transitions teams

• Social care professionals

• Therapists and learning disability teams

• Specialist teaching assistants, teaching staff and SENCOs

• Forest school leaders, alternative provision teams and equine teams

• Advocacy services and designated teachers

• SEND local authority caseworkers

• Child health teams and children looked after nurses

• Personal assistants, enablers and key workers

• Virtual school teams, social workers, kinship workers and post-adoption teams

• Any other professionals supporting birth families, children looked after, and previously looked after children and young people

FASD-informed practice recognises the importance of looking beyond presenting behaviours, considering the underlying neurodevelopmental impact.

Instead of asking, “What is wrong with this child or young person?”, we encourage teams to ask, “What does this child or young person need?”.

Why this training matters

This programme explores the complexities of supporting what is often described as a hidden disability. FASD is a severe lifelong neurodevelopmental condition due to prenatal alcohol exposure and can affect functioning across the lifespan. National guidance highlights the need for better awareness, multi-sector working, and improved support pathways for children, young people, adults, carers and families.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder | Quality standards - NICE, [Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: health needs assessment - GOV.UK

FASD is commonly associated with a wide range of co-occurring conditions. A major systematic review identified 428 co-occurring conditions spanning 18 of 22 ICD-10 chapters, with high prevalence in congenital anomalies and mental and behavioural disorders. This underlines the need for careful formulation, multidisciplinary assessment and responsive support rather than assumptions based on surface presentation.

Comorbidity of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis - The Lancet

People with FASD may appear more able than they are, which can lead to misunderstandings when symptoms are interpreted as behaviour rather than indicators of unmet need, cognitive overload or nervous system dysregulation. Support needs do not simply reduce over time; in many cases the gap between developmental expectations and functional ability becomes more pronounced.

Throughout the programme, we focus on practical application by building developmentally appropriate strategies for everyday support, safeguarding and forward planning.

Programme structure:

Each session is adapted to the individual, family or team context you are supporting. Broadly, the programme is structured as follows:

FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 1

What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder? A foundation session that ensures all professionals begin on the same page, with no assumptions.

• Identify how alcohol exposure is neurodevelopmental trauma

• Explore the impact of alcohol on the developing brain and nervous system

• Show how prenatal alcohol exposure affects safeguarding through processing and functioning

• Examine the spectrum of need, including common co-occurring conditions such as Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities and Tourette’s

• Review developmental milestones in the womb and the lifelong impact of disruption

• Recognise key brain functions and how FASD affects development

• Examine developmental divergence from peers in learning and adaptive functioning

FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 2

Interpreting theory into practice. This stage explores practical considerations in greater depth through applied discussion and case-study reflection.

• Processing speed and cognitive load

• Transitions and fluctuating environmental capacity

• Sexualised symptoms and safeguarding considerations

• Hyper-fixation, perseveration and confabulation

• Differentiating the curriculum and adjusting expectations

• Practical strategies to support the spectrum of need

FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 3

Supporting steps forward. This stage digs deeper into practical approaches for meeting emerging and anticipated needs.

• Switching techniques and responsive support strategies

• Looking outside the box when standard approaches are not working

• Planning well ahead for transitions and reducing avoidable crisis points

• Strengthening consistency across home, education, health and care systems

FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 4

FASD-responsive practice, standards and forward planning. This advanced stage brings together policy, guidance and case management in day-to-day practice.

• FASD NICE Quality Standards and broader good practice considerations

• Personalised care, risk assessment and safeguarding

• Reflection, case management and multi-agency planning

• Understanding the needs of carers and parents, including vicarious trauma

• Adapting practice to meet short- and long-term needs

• Working effectively with the wider multidisciplinary team

Delivery, tailoring and certification

Our Professional Stage 4 programme is delivered in bitesize sessions online tailored to your team’s rota. We can adapt delivery to suit in-hours or out-of-hours sessions, INSET days, and paced attendance so teams can dip in as needed. Every session is tailored to the individual or family context you are supporting, which means each programme is unique.

All participants receive FASD Informed™ certification, resources, and membership of our network of FASD-responsive professionals.

Impact in practice

“Under the guidance of the programme lead, the team was encouraged to engage in open participation, drawing on the strengths present at every level. This collective multi-disciplinary reflection was pivotal; it allowed the team to step back from their reactive stance and consider the broader context, including the potential impact of alcohol-related brain damage. This shift in perspective enabled the team to interpret the young person’s behaviours as forms of communication of unmet needs, fixated symptoms and perseveration, signalling changes in mental and physical health. By unpicking these needs together, the team began to transition from a mode of crisis management to a more thoughtful and responsive approach.

As the Head of Service supporting the wider team, this period has marked a complete turning point, a ‘showstopper’ moment that united everyone in the shared goal of making a real difference. The sense of achievement and unity fostered within the team was profound, leading to a significant change in our service offer and core practices in supporting children in care and children looked after, where we now ‘rule in alcohol’ at the earliest opportunity to consider early intervention. The experience underscored the value of reflective practice, collaborative problem-solving, and the importance of celebrating collective successes.”

Head of Service

This account illustrates how reflective, strengths-based teamwork can transform support for vulnerable children, young people and families. By moving beyond crisis response and embracing open collaboration, teams can act quickly, provide best practice in early intervention, identify underlying symptoms and needs, adapt practice, and create a more sustainable, long term change.

Booking and additional support

FASD Informed™ education is delivered by an experienced, qualified team, offering a bespoke service to help your organisation become more FASD responsive. To book a placeholder diary date, please email us: info@fasdinformed.co.uk

We also offer an online 1:1 consultation service and attendance at meetings for stuck or complex cases that require thoughtful, out-of-the-box problem solving to understand the spectrum of need and identify a way forward.

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Image with kind permission of our FASD Friend @CharlieMackesy