Secondary school experiences of individuals with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder: perspectives of parents and their children

Caregivers’ Management of Schooling for Their Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

“…Similar to other qualitative researchers' findings (e.g., Duquette & Stodel, 2005;Duquette et al, 2006Duquette et al, , 2007Ryan & Ferguson, 2006a, 2006b, the caregivers in our study emphasized the importance of availability of support and knowledge about FASD in school systems. Our findings extend previous work by explaining how caregivers of school-aged children with FASD actively use tactics to orchestrate for success for their children, even in favorable school environments.…”

“…Participants articulated short-term outcomes associated with hitting rock bottom: experiencing despair, feeling drained, and doubting success in parenting. As documented by researchers studying adoptive and foster parents of children with FASD (Brown, 2008; Duquette & Stodel, 2005; Duquette et al, 2006, 2007; Ryan & Ferguson, 2006a, 2006b), increased stress and lack of support enhance the potential for breakdown in home and school placements. Cronin (2004) described similar outcomes when studying caregivers of children with cystic fibrosis, but did not link short-term outcomes to jeopardizing the caregivers’ abilities to reach ideal long-term outcomes.…”

“…Qualitative researchers have positioned caregivers as active participants in their children's schooling and strong advocates in the face of limited support. Unfortunately, researchers have limited their exploration of educational experiences to small numbers of older adoptees and their parents (Duquette & Stodel, 2005;Duquette et al, 2006Duquette et al, , 2007, and to noncaregiving family members and professionals (Ryan & Ferguson, 2006a, 2006b). Entry to elementary school and the move to middle school represent two important turning points in the life trajectories of students with FASD, requiring intensive parental efforts to help their children negotiate the turning points (Olson, Oti, Gelo, & Beck, 2009).…”

Building alliances to understanding and working with students affected by fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

“…They may lack an understanding of the highly variable and complex presentations possible in affected individuals. Brady and Woolfson (2008) The importance of families in the lives of students with disabilities was confirmed in this study and in the literature (Duquette et al, 2007: Ryan & Ferguson, 2006. Implications from this research suggest the importance for teachers to continue to try to engage parents by whatever means possible.…”

“…Unlike the students in the Alaskan study, these students were not vulnerable because of issues such as an unstable home life, or deaths in their families. Duquette et al's (2007) research indicated that there were principally two conditions that inhibited persistence in students with FASD: the curriculum and the teachers. There were instances of IEPs that were not followed, teachers who were unwilling to believe that students could not do the work as they "didn't look like they had a disability" (p. 579), and work that was either too easy or too challenging for students, both of which were issues.…”