Health, social and educational resources for children with FAS/FAE in two northern BC communities

The purpose of Study One is to describe and compare the demographic and health characteristics, and living arrangements of 83 children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol Effects ( FAS/FAE) who reside in Prince George and Fort St. James. The purpose of Study Two is to identify health, social and educational resources available to children with FAS/FAE who reside in these two communities. Study One reviews data collected as part of a larger study of 148 children with FAS/FAE conducted by Turpin, Ollech and Hay (1997). The children in Study One range in age from 3 months to 16 years and the majority have Aboriginal heritage. In Prince George 63% of the children are male, and in Fort St. James 50% are male. The primary disabilities of children in Study One included attention deficit and hyperactivity, delayed development, speech and language deficits, physical problems, and learning disorders and mental retardation. Study One profiles the secondary disabilities of mental health problems and parenting problems of the children. Study Two identifies 45 health, social and educational resources in Prince George, 20 in Fort St. James, and 2 provincial resources. A resource guide for children with FAS/FAE was developed. The purpose of this guide is to assist children, their caregivers, and service providers in locating appropriate services, to promote quality of life, and prevent or diminish development of secondary disabilities among children with FAS/FAE. Study Two also examines gaps in the identified services. The impact of prenatal exposure to alcohol has variable effects among the children with FAS/FAE, and these children need a broad range of health, social and educational resources. This broad range of needs requires an array of resources that are difficult to provide in Prince George and Fort St. James. In Prince George and Fort St. James the largest gap in services for children with FAS/FAE is a multidisciplinary resource center dedicated to the needs of children with FAS/FAE. Many of the resources identified in Study Two are designed to serve diverse groups of children, not children with FAS/FAE specifically. Children with FAS/FAE, the invisible disability, must compete for services with other children who have diagnosed and readily visible disabilities. Possibly, with a resource centre available for children with FAS/FAE in the north, these children will become visible. The need for resources that ameliorate the impact of FAS/FAE and improve the lives of children and their caregivers is fundamental.