'FASD Informed' Clinic of Therapeutic Professionals
- somersetmiracles
- Aug 23, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 28, 2025
'FASD-informed' practice acknowledges the need to see beyond an individual’s presenting 'behaviours', instead to consider 'symptoms'....
‘What does this person need?’ rather than ‘What is wrong with this person?’
Our 'FASD Informed' Clinic of Therapeutic Professionals offer's 4 Stages of bitesize online delivery tailored to your service, clinic or individual requirements; dip in and out at your pace leading to higher level qualifications:
'FASD Informed'™ Therapeutic Professional Stage 1:
We ask you to consider prenatal alcohol exposure..... should we 'rule it in' first with every child we support in care or previously looked after?
How could 'ruling it in' change lives and support early intervention?
What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)?….. whether you are greeting families on the front desk or you are the clinical lead assessing..... we encourage you to start together without assumptions, on the same page to become 'FASD Informed' to work towards being 'FASD Responsive'.
We consider the theory, to explore the impact of the teratogen alcohol on the development of the 'whole child'.... then we pause to reflect on case examples, where together we start to look outside the box and consider stuck cases.
We tailor all of our our programmes around the individual and organisation where we aim to:
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 safeguarding through assumptions made in processing speed and functioning
Examine how the alcohol informs the spectrum of need and some of its 428 co-occurring conditions including Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Tourette’s etc
Review developmental milestones in the womb; explain the lifelong impact
Recognise the brain functions and how FASD impacts development
Examine the developmental divergence of peers in development
FASD Informed™ Therapeutic Professional Stage 2:
Interpreting the theory into practice, step by step we explore strategies to support the spectrum of needs to adapt the theory into practice.
We break this stage down into areas of need, for example if working with families with sexualised symptoms, fixation, stealing, rage, aggression, fluctuating capacity, confabulation, sensory needs, transitions, processing & speech and language.
Why might the child's previous support plan not work anymore, why might the child disengage; lets tune into the pattern of change in needs; we consider the environment, expectations, demand etc.
Should he lay still in a hammock for the whole session.... is that ok?
We build your confidence in tuning in to the 'need' not the expectation.
We dig a little deeper into the practical considerations & dive into more case study reflection. These sessions provide an excellent opportunity for team building and bringing together experience and strengths in a multi-disciplinary team.
"I loved the richness and tapestry of the strengths in our team; Julie encouraged this through carefully selected case study where we were all part of the consideration of the whole child. The clues were all there but we had to dig deep to find them, so powerful.
Our clinic receptionist felt empowered by the safe space to say things out loud, to think outside the box; she brought something that those of us with many, many years of clinical experience could not see. It added huge value to clinical conversations and shined a light on peeling back the layers with every case.
Shifting the lense to consider alcohol first, to 'rule it in', changes everything. I now look at all of my clinical work differently... through the lense of vulnerability, but tuning into neurodevelopmental trauma; I ask myself why does the brain behave like this, what are the symptoms, the 'behaviours' telling us....why should we work in a different way to consider the life long impact on the child"
Director & Clinical Psychologist
FASD Informed™ Therapeutic Professional Stage 3:
Understanding 'switching techniques in complex cases of fixation of unsafe 'behaviours'. Supporting forward planning and anticipated divergence of needs, digging deep into 'switching' techniques, looking outside the box to meet emerging needs, planning well ahead for developmental stage appropriate transitions.
Needs of carers & parents; the long term impact of vicarious trauma, grief, CPTSD, Child to Parent Violence and Abuse; safeguarding, fluctuating and environmental capacity, planning.
FASD Informed™ Therapeutic Professional Stage 4:
FASD NICE Quality Standards, OFSTED good practice informing 'FASD Responsive' Practice; personalised care, fluctuating and environmental capacity, risk assessment, safeguarding, reflection and case management; involving a wider multi-disciplinary team.
We tailor our bespoke FASD-Informed sessions around your needs and the families you support; every session is unique because we consider the caseload you collectively support; the blend of your community.
We know from the wonderful feedback we receive that the difference this can make individually and as a service can change clinical practice forever.... 'ruling alcohol in' is empowering and enables a fresh look at stuck and complex cases through a new lense.
FASD continues to be a frequently misunderstood condition, those who are not appropriately trained or knowledgeable can often make inaccurate assumptions due to the fact that many individuals with FASD can superficially present as more able than they actually are, due to their spiky cognitive and neurodevelopmental profiles.
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 outside the box for a way forward.
FASD Informed(TM) Education delivered by a strong experienced qualified team, tailoring a bespoke service to support your team in becoming FASD Responsive(TM)
©FASD Informed UK
