B R E A K I N G D O W N B R I C K W A L L S F O R F A S D

Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome 
Just Another "Disease of the Week?"

by Bonnie Buxton

There are so many illnesses and disabilities, all worthy of support. You may be wondering why we are asking our governments to single out Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, for an official day of recognition.

2. FAS is one of the largest incidence of any birth defect.
   During any given day in the USA, about 10,657 babies will be born.
   3,890,000/yr: US Census Bureau
    

Chart last Updated on 9/24/99 By Jodee Kulp  Email: jodee@connetworks.com

3 Muscular Dystrophy babies born.. 1 in 3,200: Muscular Dystrophy Association	4 Spina Bifida babies born.. 3.2/10,000: Center for Disease Control and Prevention .
100 Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder. FAE BABIES BORN! 1/100: Teratology 1997 Nov;56(5):317-26 which will probably never be diagnosed These babies may also have other alcohol related birth defects or impairments
>1 HIV infected babies born.. 200/yr: CDC Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report 11/21/97 NOTE: These figures were 2000/year in the early 1990's Great Job Americans!	10 Down Syndrome babies born.. 1/1,000: Center for Disease Control	20 Fetal Alcohol Syndrome babies born. 19.5 per 10,000: Natl Org. of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,

As noted by the Institute of Medicine's 1996 Report to Congress on FAS: "These incidence figures are offered not as established facts but to emphasize the magnitude of a problem that has serious implications - for the individual and for society. " From the Executive Summary of the IOM Report. FAS Community Resource Center ~ http://www.come-over.to/FASCRC

3. FAS could be totally prevented.
4. The general public, not to mention many professionals, know very little about either FAS, or the fact that no amount of alcohol in pregnancy has been established as safe for the fetus.
5. FAS is more than a disability – it’s a social disorder which causes many of the expensive problems which plague governments, and all of us. On both a financial and personal level, we are all affected by the secondary disabilities of people with FAS and FAE. The majority of FAS/E individuals will display many or even all of the following symptoms: learning disabilities, early school drop-out, juvenile delinquency, poverty, chronic unemployment, sexual acting-out (promiscuity, early pregnancy, prostitution or sexual assault), mental illness, homelessness, violence, crimes against property, alcoholism and addiction.
6. The secondary disabilities of people with FAS are costing the taxpayers far more than any other disability. Some economists have estimated that every individual with FAS will cost the U.S. taxpayers a minimum of $1.9 million in his or her lifetime. It is estimated in the four states of Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana alone there are 70,000 individuals afflicted with FAS/E.
7. People with FAS tend to have many children, who generally also have FAS. It is not unusual for a young woman with FAE to have given birth to four or five children damaged by alcohol or drugs by the time she is 21. The majority of these children will be taken into care by a government welfare agency, raised by adoptive or foster families, and the cycle continues.
8. There is no "inclusiveness" for people with FAS. In general, our society has very little compassion for those thousands of individuals whose damaged brains lead them to crime, homelessness, and addiction. Instead, we assume that they have chosen to behave as they do. Few people realize that the severely acting-out teenager, the addicted prostitute on the corner, the couple living in your park, or the man charged with killing his girlfriend’s baby may all behave as they do as the result of brain damage caused by their mothers’ drinking in pregnancy.
9. We can beat FAS, just as we have beaten other health disorders... Vaccines have eradicated smallpox, polio, and other communicable diseases. Bypass surgery has added decades to the lives of many heart patients. New drugs have enabled people with mental illness to function in society.

We recognize that every disability is worthy of support. But as FAS has the greatest social and financial impact of all, while being so poorly understood, we ask you to single it out with a special annual day. Every FAS birth prevented by FAS Day will result in a savings of about two million dollars during that infant’s lifetime -- money that could be diverted for other disabilities.