CD-50008d
Identifying Children Who are at Risk of FASD in Peterborough: Working in a Community Clinic Without Access to Gold Standard Dignosis (Special Issue: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD).
Gregory, Geraldine.
Reddy, Venkat.
Young, Clare.
Journal Article
Copyright
Published: October 2015
Adoption and Fostering
Vol. 39, No. 3
, p. 225-234
DOI: 10.1177/0308575915594985
British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF)
Safron House
6-10 Kirby STreet
London EC1N 8TS,
Tel: 020 7520 0300
mail@baaf.org.uk
Available From:http://www.baaf.org.uk/
The number of UK children seen with complex behaviour difficulties where there is a history of exposure to alcohol and/or drugs prenatally appears to be increasing at an alarming rate. Community paediatricians work with vulnerable children and also act as medical advisers to adoption panels, so they have a unique overview of the unmet needs of looked after children affected by Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). This article reports on two simple audits of children seen in a community paediatric clinic setting. The first audit counted the number of children seen during a period of two-and-a-half years between April 2010 and August 2013, where there was a clear prenatal history of alcohol exposure. This audit also specifically looked at how many of these children might have Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or FASD. Seventy-two children were given such a diagnosis within the time frame. The second audit reported on children looked after and children put forward for adoption during a 12-month period from January 2013 to December 2013. It reported a history of prenatal exposure in 55 out of 160 health assessments for looked after children (34%) and in 34 out of 45 medicals for adoption (75%). (Author abstract)
Keywords:
foster children; alcohol abuse; England; FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME; ADDICTED INFANTS; PRENATAL DRUG EXPOSURE; SUBSTANCE ABUSING MOTHERS; children with disabilities; behavior problems; pediatricians; incidence; identification