Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a disorder caused by alcohol exposure in the womb. Although it’s brain-based, there are more than 400 conditions that can co-occur throughout the body and across the lifespan. Millions of people in the UK have FASD, but it remains chronically mis- or under-diagnosed.

This podcast is designed to assist people in the Speech & Language Therapy field – whether learning or qualified – to help recognise the different presentations of language and communication associated with FASD in children and make appropriate referrals to the multidisciplinary team so that they can best support the child and family’s needs. Most children with FASD will have some degree of speech, language or communication need, and a Speech & Language Therapist may often be the first point of contact with a family. It is therefore important to learn the various aspects of clinical presentation, as well as understand how the disorder impacts the lives of the family members and how best to support them.

Featuring Speech & Language Therapists Rachel Jackson and Morag Burns; and Chief Executive of the National Organisation for FASD Sandy Butcher.

This podcast is also valuable for parents, carers and teachers of people with FASD, and is a Fresh Air Production on behalf of NHS Greater Manchester ICB. It was produced by Phil Sansom.

Links:

• Video edition of this podcast: https://youtu.be/s7hb032Htr0
• NICE Quality Standard https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs204
• Me & My FASD https://fasd.me/
• National Organisation for FASD https://nationalfasd.org.uk/
• FASD Local Alliance https://fasd-uk.net/
• Fetal Alcohol Advisory Support & Training Team (FAAST) at Edinburgh University https://www.faast.ed.ac.uk/
• FASD Greater Manchester https://fasdgreatermanchester.co.uk/
• Greater Manchester FASD Network https://www.10gm.org.uk/fasd.html
• DRYMESTER - https://www.drymester.org.uk