Perceptions of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) among School Superintendents in the State of Minnesota

Abstract

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) offer unique challenges in school and other settings. As such, administrators such as district superintendents, many of whom make recommendations for long-term suspensions or expulsion, need to be prepared to work with students with FASD. This requires familiarity with FASD screening, knowledge of FASD intervention and teaching strategies, and possession of a plan for referring these students for additional assistance. Unfortunately, little is known about how familiar school superintendents are with FASD. To this end, a Web-based qualitative survey concerning FASD was administered to school superintendents. This study found that superintendents vary in their (a) Ability to accurately identify signs and symptoms of FASD and (b) Awareness of unique psychoeducational impairments experienced by these individuals. Superintendents believe they would benefit from continuing education in the psychoeducational impairments of individuals diagnosed with FASD and a form or checklist to assist them in their decision-making process. KeywordsFASD, Education, School superintendents, Special education, Training impulsivity), social (e.g., communication including verbal and non-verbal language), and adaptive (e.g., decision-making, problem-solving, and ability to learn from experience) impairments [3][4][5][6]. In education settings, deficits in short-and long-term memory and the capacity to learn may be the most noticeable [7][8][9]. Deficits in the encoding, retrieval, and application of memory [10] can impact verbal and non-verbal learning, mathematics, and the identification of odors and colors [11,12]. Because these symptoms can vary widely as a function of the timing and amount of prenatal alcohol exposure, FASD often goes unrecognized, undiagnosed, and subsequently untreated in school children.Diagnosis is further complicated in at least three ways. First, individuals with FASD typically do not have visible indicators of the disorder such as physical deformities. Second, many of the associated impairments can be, and often are, superficially masked by the individual. This is particularly true over short periods of time in comparison to longer ones that allow for more observation as part of a long-term relationship. For example, individuals with FASD may mask the disorder by scoring in the normal range on intelligence tests or presenting with adequate verbal intelligence. However, difficulties in global functioning tend to become apparent over longer periods of interaction [13,14]. Third, almost all individuals with FASD have at least one co-occurring mental disorder [12]. In fact, one study estimated that this was the case for over 90% of individuals with FASD