The University of Victoria offers many exciting opportunities to contribute and advance our understanding of challenges faced by children with FASD.  Current research projects are actively recruiting children diagnosed with FASD for a variety of research experiences.  Research studies aim to explore the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on cognitive and social functioning, as well as investigate the efficacy of various intervention strategies.  Guardians and children are invited to participate in these exciting and rewarding studies.

The current studies include:

The Clinical psychology program at UVIC is investigating interrogative suggestibility, or the ability to be influenced during a formal questioning procedure (such as being questioned by a teacher, principle, police officer, etc...).  The project is particularly interested in comparing the suggestibility rates in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and children without such a disorder. The goal is a better understanding some of the challenges faced by these children and their families.

They are looking for male and female children aged 6 – 17 with a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.  

Researchers with the National Children’s Study at South Dakota State University, in collaboration with Dr. H. Eugene Hoyme, chief academic officer at Sanford Health and president and senior scientist for Sanford Research/University of South Dakota, are working to develop a standardized assessment tool that would be used to identify birth defects in infants. An evaluation model of this type would have a significant impact on the study of human genetics and birth defects. 

To read this article, click here.

Date: Mar 6, 2012
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Place: Richmond Multicultural Centre Performance Hall
Host: Richmond FASD Roundtable

FASD and Mental Health

Speakers: Dr. Christine Lilley, and Allision Mounsey, MSW Both speakers are with the Complex Developmental Behavioural Condition (CDBC) Clinic at Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children.

The FASD Richmond Roundtable was formed in 2008. It is a community initiative that builds FASD awareness through education and prevention.

For more information email touchstone@touchfam.ca

Brochure: Richmond_Roundtable_Conference.pdf

This conference brings together an interdisciplinary group of professionals working in the field of mental health with young people and parents and other stakeholders to share knowledge and experiences related to child and youth mental health. There are three themes woven through the conferences: Family Mental Health, Children of Parents with Mental Illness and Young Carers. 

Location:  The Coast Plaza Hotel and Suites, 1763 Comox Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6G 1P6

Date:  May 6 - 8 , 2012

Cost:  Full program early bird - $495 (students $300)  Full program after March 21, 2012 - $580

To register, go to http://137.82.158.150/getdemo.ei?id=115&s=_6A80KTSWE

There are two new eLearning videos available on the POPFASD website.  In the first video, Kim Barthel speaks about the "Brain and FASD" and in the second video, she discusses the "Theory of Attachment". The videos are excerpts from the 2009 POPFASD District Partner Meeting in Richmond, B.C.

Kim Barthel - Speaking About The Brain

Kim Barthel - Attachment

In recent years, medical professionals have begun to measure fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) in meconium as a direct and reliable marker of gestational alcohol exposure during the second and third trimesters. This study extended that research – by examining prenatal exposure to alcohol in seven Italian cities through analysis of FAEEs and of a new biomarker, ethylglucuronide (EtG), in neonatal meconium samples – finding that fetal alcohol exposure is underestimated or misreported in Italy.

Results will be published in the March 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/ace-aof120811.php

Description

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is unusual among neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in that its prevalence rate in Canada has not been scientifically ascertained. Furthermore, the importance of prevention is much clearer for FASD than for other NDDs. For this three-day conference, plenary speakers and workshop leaders from across North America have been assembled who will be provocative in their approaches to ascertaining FASD from the clinical and basic principles in brain development; discussing evidence-based interventions to ameliorate or prevent the disorder; and discussing the legal, educational, and prevention challenges that are part of the complexities associated with FASD. The target audience for this conference includes clinicians, educators, researchers, and policy makers working in the field of FASD and children’s mental health.