Unique tool released in Vancouver to help Canadians understand Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
The YWCA Metro Vancouver has come out with a ground-breaking online resource to help educate Canadians about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
The agency has created a 26-letter "dictionary" that uses a series of definitions and videos to teach people the basics of FASD and break down stereotypes.
According to the Centres for Disease Control, FASDs are a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. Alcohol in the mother’s blood passes to the baby through the umbilical cord. The CDC says the effects can include physical problems, behavioural and learning issues or a mix of all the effects.
“Many people don’t talk openly about FASD or understand it,” Wanda Pelletier, FASD key worker with Vancouver’s YWCA Crabtree Corner Community Resource Centre, told CTV News. “This has led to stigma and shame for women, families and people with FASD.”
The CDC lists some of the conditions those impacted by FASD may have as poor co-ordination, hyperactive behaviour, difficulty with attention, poor memory, learning disabilities and difficulty in school.
“It’s about changing the language around FASD and pre-natal alcohol exposure,” said Pelletier. “Many kids are misunderstood.”
Pelletier said she’s seen great success stories when kids are assessed and given proper learning tools when they’re young. She worked with a boy who had trouble with his motor skills. He struggled with using a pencil in kindergarten and was still struggling to tie his shoes in Grade 6.
“He displayed significant delays in motor skills,” said Pelletier. “But because he got the support he needed, he’s learned to play various instruments and is now looking into becoming a computer designer.”
She said the dictionary can be used by whomever wants to learn and hopes it will contribute to more success stories.
Sept. 9 was International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day. The dictionary was released to coincide with that.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.