'FASD Informed' Social Care Professional (Stage 4)
- somersetmiracles
- Sep 28
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 14
For professionals supporting complex, stuck, educational challenges, fluctuating capacity, edge of care for children or young adults with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Fluctuating Capacity and co-morbid complex needs.
'FASD-informed practice' acknowledges the need to see beyond an individual’s presenting behaviours, to consider 'symptoms' and to ask.....
‘What does this child or young adult need?’
rather than
‘What is wrong with this child or young adult?’
We dig deep to tune into the needs of children and young adults that you support where we tailor a responsive programme around the team.
Early intervention for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) cannot cure the condition as it is irreversible brain damage, but it can significantly improve a child's long-term outcomes by addressing the physical, cognitive, and behavioural symptomatic challenges that result from prenatal alcohol exposure.
Good practice in Social Care includes being 'alcohol curious' in every case review, where together a multi-disciplinary team can significantly change outcomes for families by using early intervention techniques.
In order to really make change happen 'rule FASD in',
Ask yourself these key questions.....
Has the child or adult been exposed to prenatal alcohol?
Could the child I support have likely Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?
Should we 'rule FASD in' first to be responsive to provide personalised care?
How should I support a child with likely or diagnosed FASD?
What should the team consider with a young person with fluctuating capacity?
In some areas of the UK research has shown that up to 75% of children in care and leaving it will have been exposed to alcohol in the womb....
'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.
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 a child 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 childhood.
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.'
Dr Cassie Jackson Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Our 'FASD Informed' Social Care Professional Stage 4 Programme offer's bitesize sessions tailored to your timetable, where we can adjust the time to suit your team or on inset, where you can dip in and out at your pace.
FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 1: What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder?….. with no assumptions, all professionals starting 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.
Identify how alcohol is Neuro-Developmental Trauma
The impact of alcohol on the brain and its vulnerabilities
Show how alcohol has a direct impact to teaching & learning through processing and functioning
Examine how the alcohol informs the spectrum of need and some of its 328 co-occurring conditions including Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Tourette’s etc
Review developmental milestones in the womb; compare the impact on the brain and explain the lifelong impact
Recognise the brain functions and how FASD impacts development
Illustrate the facial features of FASD and when these are formed
Examine the developmental divergence of peers in learning
FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 2: Interpreting theory into practice, 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.
FASD Informed™ Professional Stage 3: Supporting steps forwards, digging deep into 'switching' techniques, looking outside the box & meeting emerging needs, risk assessments, planning well ahead for transitions.
FASD Informed™ professional Stage 4: FASD NICE Quality Standards, OFSTED good practice informing 'FASD Responsive' Practice; personalised care, safeguarding, reflection and case management; forward planning.
Understanding the needs of carers & parents, vicarious trauma, adapting practice to plan to meet short and long term needs; good practice in getting support from a wider multi-agency team.
All participants will receive 'FASD Informed' certification, resources and membership of our network of 'FASD Responsive' Professionals.
We tailor our bespoke online FASD-Informed sessions around the needs of the families you support; every session is unique because we consider carefully the child or young adult that you support.
''Our team had been fire fighting where suddenly a pattern of need started emerging that could have potentially de-railed this young person. We had already seen much regression and fixated on unsafe behaviours.
Drawing together strengths in the team we explored together needs and asked ourselves was what we were seeing symptoms of unmet needs. We had been so immersed in reacting to the big behaviours we had not sat and reflected on the obvious, not seen his behaviours as communication to us that things were changing for his mental & physical health.
It was a complete showstopper for me personally and I know for the rest of team as we felt united in celebrating making a real difference.
The family were on edge of care, where it literally changed everything as the team began working smarter and together for the family. In turn this supported and scaffolded what they had been doing at home which validated them... they were the specialist in the room!
The young person has now successfully started a 'Supported Internship' where this could never have been even dreamt of before this training as he was headed for 52 week residential education'
DSL & Head of School, Wiltshire.
'FASD Informed' (TM) Education delivered by a strong experienced qualified team, tailoring a bespoke service to support your team in becoming FASD Responsive(TM)
We also offer an online 1:1 consultation service and attendance of meetings for stuck or complex cases requiring out of the box thinking to consider the spectrum of needs and to look towards finding a way forwards.
Good practice in neurodevelopmental support informs us that working towards being ‘FASD Responsive’ includes empowering all members of the team who come into contact with children & adults with prenatal exposure to alcohol.
We consider how many families supporting FASD experience secondary trauma; a vicarious type of trauma that impacts the whole body, as well as considering the individual with FASD we reflect on the whole family where we signpost you to ways to help support very challenging cases where needs change rapidly.
In practical terms, what would the indicators be for a professional 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 had 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 drink alcohol, take drugs, and engage in other risky behaviours (including sexual ones) because I have a very hard time controlling my impulses.
My sleep pattern will have been poor from an early age.
(Hayes, Moritz and Reid, 2020)
Online live delivery includes Certification & FASD Resources; with progression opportunities to a higher level learning
FASD Informed Education delivered by a strong experienced qualified team, tailoring a bespoke service to support your team in becoming FASD Responsive
©FASD Informed UK
Drawing by kind permission of our FASD Friend and Inspiration @CharlieMackesy
