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Intervening With Children Affected by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Proceedings of a Special Focus Session of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

NCJ Number
193824
Author(s)
Kathy Fomous
Date Published
1998
Length
191 pages
Annotation
This report contains summaries of papers presented at a workshop held to determine how Federal agencies can work with parents, educators, and the scientific community to prevent or ameliorate secondary disabilities among children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure.
Abstract
The workshop was sponsored by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, whose primary objectives are to foster the exchange of information and to promote collaborative efforts among member organizations and between member organizations and other organizations interested in issues related to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure. The papers presented addressed a wide range of topics related to the behavior, social, and health impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure. One paper discussed the structural and functional relationships between brain and behavior in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. Another paper focused on the cognitive, social, and health impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure, with attention to intervention issues for reasonable standards of community care. In presenting a standard of care for toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults, a paper defined desired outcomes for children with FAS. Two other papers defined desired outcomes for children with FAS from educational and clinical-research perspectives. Other papers discussed intervention with children with FAS and associated disabilities, improvement in cognitive functioning for such children, the role of language in the cognitive rehabilitation of children with FAS, a model of treating the social disabilities of cognitively impaired children, and the development of clinical practice guidelines for pharmacological interventions with alcohol-affected children.