If you happen to be strolling past Halifax’s City Hall on Friday night, you may notice something odd. The entire building will be bathed in a glow of red light.
The same will be true of the New Brunswick legislature. And Charlottetown City Hall. And Niagara Falls. And the CN Tower. And the Manitoba legislature. And the Calgary Tower. And BC Place…
Right across this great land, dozens of landmarks, large and small, will be glowing red, marking International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day. Marked on the 9th day of the 9th month to represent the length of a typical pregnancy, FASD Awareness Day is devoted to raising awareness and removing the stigma surrounding the condition.
Quick facts
FASD occurs in children when they are exposed to alcohol in the womb. No one is sure how much, or how little alcohol exposure causes FASD, but the condition leads to a host of issues, including everything from an inability to regulate emotions to behavioural problems and learning challenges.
It is conservatively estimated that a full four per cent of children are born with the condition each year, making it more prevalent than autism, Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy combined. To frame those numbers from an educational perspective, every class of 25 students has within it at least one child with FASD. The vast majority of such children are undiagnosed.
Battling stigma
This lack of diagnosis stems from a number of causes, not the least of which is the stigma attached to the condition. Since FASD is caused by alcohol consumption, many will conclude that it is 100 per cent preventable. After all (or so the common misconception goes), “good” mothers don’t drink while pregnant.
The problem with that attitude, beyond its wild underestimation of the power of alcohol addiction, is that approximately half of all pregnancies in Canada are unplanned.
Even this statement carries some judgmental baggage with it. Many will assume that an unplanned pregnancy is the result of risky behaviour, but obviously even with precautions, pregnancies can occur. Contraceptives can fail, birth control pills can be rendered ineffective by antibiotics, women who have been told they can’t conceive experience a miracle. There are many reasons why a pregnancy might come as a surprise.
Furthermore, studies have suggested the average time for people to discover a pregnancy, planned or not, hovers somewhere around six weeks, with one in three people finding out beyond that threshold. Although many families embrace abstinence once they hear the happy news, the sad reality is that alcohol use can impact a fetus even in the earliest stages of pregnancy, long before the six-week mark. Even casual drinking prior to becoming aware of a pregnancy can have a lasting impact.
Mobilizing for change
There is hope, however. Although facing challenges and obstacles, children with FASD can live full, productive lives, if they receive an appropriate diagnosis and support. This is particularly true when government and health-care systems work alongside grassroots advocates to enact change. One such advocate is Alicia Munn, president of the Fredericton FASD Support Group.
Last October, Munn was invited to present before a government accessibility committee that had been put together to give vulnerable populations a voice in the New Brunswick legislature. That presentation contributed, in part, to a decision by the government of New Brunswick to commit $800,000 to the New Brunswick FASD Center of Excellence, a facility dedicated to supporting people with FASD and their families.
Munn says that the real focus of her efforts is not just to remove the stigma surrounding FASD, but to call attention to the strengths of people living with the condition.
“We can’t really ever eradicate FASD, so we have to raise awareness and educate the population to the risks, and the potential that each of these kids has to be successful.”
The efforts of Munn and folks like her are starting to pay off, as will be evidenced by Halifax City Hall’s red glow, come Friday night. As well, efforts by FASD advocates out of Newfoundland (fasdNL) have resulted in Premier Tim Houston proclaiming September 2022 as FASD awareness month here in Nova Scotia. Finally, the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DoEECD) is currently working to support students with FASD through the inclusive education policy.
Changes needed
These are all exciting developments, and the efforts should be applauded. Unfortunately, when it comes to FASD, Nova Scotia has a rather questionable track record of keeping this particular ball rolling.
Back in 2004, Progressive Conservative Premier John Hamm signed his own proclamation, declaring September 9th as FASD awareness day in Nova Scotia. That few people in the general population are aware of this speaks to a lack of meaningful follow-up by the government. That same year, MLA Joan Massey (Dartmouth East) rose to speak in Province House in favour of amending Nova Scotia’s liquor laws to make warning labels about the dangers of mixing alcohol and pregnancies mandatory at the NSLC.
Ms. Massey was successful in that effort, and our current Liquor Control Act does, in fact, include a section (96A, to be precise) that legally requires “the Corporation” to post signs and publicize the possible negative impacts of drinking alcohol while pregnant. That this law seems to have been largely forgotten points once again to the lack of commitment on the part of previous governments to enact meaningful change.
Premier Houston’s declaration is a welcome bit of news for FASD advocates. As well, the current efforts by the DoEECD to look into how they can specifically offer services to students with FASD offers some comfort to families, I am sure.
But unless we collectively make a true commitment to education, diagnosis and support, students with FASD will continue to fall through the cracks in our system.
To find out more about FASD Awareness Day and how you can get involved, go to CanFASD.ca.
Grant Frost is an educational commentator who has been teaching for 25 years. He's also past president of the NSTU Halifax County local. More of his commentary can be found at frostededucation.com.
