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Special Needs
CaptainSerious
member
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
CaptainSerious
member
Does anyone know if having a FAS or FASD diagnosis might hurt in terms of receiving services?
I ask this because it is highly likely that my son has FAS, but he hasn't been diagnosed with it. I've never pursued it because, to me, it didn't really matter, as long as we were treating his symptoms.
Recently, though, a special education advocate asked me if it was possible he had it, based on his symptoms. She mentioned that it can be retroactively diagnosed, but urged caution, because in some cases, it can hurt us as much as help us with regard to getting him the services he needs. She implied that sometimes child study team members/educational professionals may make the assumption that his potential is capped/limited, and therefore they might not work as hard to accommodate him/help him succeed/close the gap.
Now I'm wondering if we should pursue this and have him seen for a potential diagnosis or not. Has anyone here noticed that having the diagnosis results in less help/effort from the schools?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
That's what I thought about the privacy, thanks Auntie. I just wanted to make sure
I'm familiar with the CHOP adoption unit, and almost used them for my younger son. Both my sons are seen by CHOP cardiologists and my younger son goes to their NF clinic.
That being said, I don't think M has the facial characteristics, and we had a doctor review his photos before we adopted him who said the same thing. But my understanding is that not everyone with FAS or FASD has them, and my son has many of the other symptoms, right down to being born with a heart defect. He also was born to a middle-aged, alcoholic mother, so we've always suspected it.
I would do it just to have the dx in my back pocket. He would probably have to have an MRI since a lot of kids with FAS also have brain abnormaloies, in particular, disorders of the corpus callosum. Nate has a CC disorder caused by genetic deletions.
Nate's corpus callosum disorder automatically got him services and I suspect he will need supports all through school. Most children with CC disorders have average intelligence. Their brains are just not wired to make the mostof their computing power. If you are interested in learning more, there is an awesome blog called Angels Around the World that has a lot of information about how kids wi CCDs learn best. I don't have the link but if you google it and Agenesis of the Corpus callosum you should be able to find it.
If you pursue the FAS dx and it turns out he has CC issues, then you can just tell them that and not even mention FAS. ? Just a thought.....
Thank you, Assembly. I knew FAS could affect brain development and could therefore likely be identified via an MRI (I even knew which part of the brain looked different), but I had no idea about corpus callosum disorders, what they were, or how they presented.
I guess our next step is to find out if we are right about this, and if so, if M has any signs of atypical brain development. Then we'll go from there. I have to admit, it's hard not to worry a ton, knowing that if he does have a form of DCC, he might fall even more behind in the coming years.
DS 09/2008