By Janet Christie, Parent of a Young Adult with FASD, and former FASD Key Worker
What is FASD?
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a permanent brain-based disability caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. Alcohol impacts how the brain and central nervous system develop, which can affect memory, learning, problem-solving, communication, and social skills.
Unlike some other conditions, FASD is largely invisible. Most children and youth with FASD have no physical features to indicate the disability. Instead, their challenges often show up in how they learn and behave in everyday settings—especially in the classroom. Too often, these brain-based differences are mistaken for laziness, defiance, or poor parenting, when in fact they are the result of neurological injury.
For foster caregivers, it is important to remember that part of your role is to advocate for the children and youth in your care. Advocacy is about ensuring their needs are understood and supported, particularly in the education system where the right accommodations can make the difference between frustration and success.
Prevalence and Why It Matters in Schools
FASD is more common than most people realize. In fact, it is considered the leading known cause of developmental disability in Canada:
- Research from CanFASD estimates that roughly 4% of the Canadian population is estimated to live with FASD — that’s about 1.5 million people.
- In BC classrooms, this translates to at least one or two students in every class being affected, whether diagnosed or not.
- Children and youth in foster or kinship care are at even higher risk, because many may have experienced prenatal alcohol exposure as well as early trauma.
Many children with FASD do not have a formal diagnosis. Assessments are difficult to access, waiting lists are long, and diagnostic clinics are not always available in rural areas. Others may be misdiagnosed with conditions like ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), or simply labeled as having “behaviour problems.” While those diagnoses may capture part of the picture, they miss the brain-based differences unique to FASD.
For students, this can mean the wrong strategies are applied. For caregivers, it can mean years of frustration trying to make supports fit when they don’t. Recognizing FASD—whether or not a formal diagnosis is in place—is key to making sure the right accommodations are used in schools.
Understanding FASD Across Ages
FASD is not something children “outgrow.” While behaviours may shift as children get older, the underlying brain differences remain throughout life. A child in elementary school may struggle with noisy classrooms, while a teenager in high school may appear oppositional when faced with abstract assignments. In both cases, the challenges are brain-based, not willful misbehaviour.
Primary Characteristics of FASD
Children with FASD are known to struggle with mathematics, abstract thinking, and language comprehension, though many have IQs within the normal range on standardized testing. They may appear academically capable, but these brain-based differences can create significant challenges in school.
These are not signs of laziness or poor behaviour—they are neurological differences that frequently show up in classrooms and help explain why students with FASD may struggle in certain areas, even when they seem capable in others.
- Memory Problems: Students may remember information one day and forget it the next, leading to frustration for teachers and caregivers.
- Processing Speed Difficulties: Many children with FASD need extra time to absorb instructions, shift between tasks, or respond to questions.
- Difficulty Generalizing: A student may learn a skill in one setting but struggle to transfer it to another — for example, doing math on paper but not applying it when counting money.
- Rigid, Inflexible Thinking: Predictability helps children with FASD feel safe. Unexpected changes in routine can trigger distress or meltdowns.
- Difficulty with Transitions: Moving between activities, classrooms, or grade levels can be overwhelming and may cause anxiety or acting out.
- Oversensitivity to Sensory Stimuli: Noisy cafeterias, bright lights, crowded hallways, or scratchy clothing can easily overload a student’s nervous system.
- Dysmaturity: A child or youth with FASD may be several years behind their peers in social and emotional development, which can lead to misunderstandings or conflict in school.
- Adaptive Functioning: Everyday life skills—such as organizing schoolwork, following routines, managing time, or interacting socially—may be much harder for students with FASD, even when their IQ scores are average.
These characteristics are present across all ages. They may look different in elementary versus high school, but the underlying needs remain consistent. When teachers and caregivers recognize these patterns as brain-based, not willful misbehaviour, it changes everything.
FASD in the Classroom
These brain-based characteristics often collide with traditional school expectations:
- Memory gaps don’t align with a curriculum that builds on yesterday’s lesson.
- Slow processing speed is at odds with timed tests and fast-paced transitions.
- Inflexible thinking clashes with constantly changing classroom routines.
- Difficulty with transitions means moving between subjects, classrooms, or activities can feel overwhelming, leading to anxiety, resistance, or acting out.
- Oversensitivity to sensory stimuli make classrooms, cafeterias, and hallways overwhelming.
- Dysmaturity leaves youth vulnerable to bullying or discipline when they can’t meet age-based norms.
- Challenges with adaptive functioning make everyday school tasks, from organizing homework to following classroom rules, far more difficult.
Without this understanding, students with FASD are too often mislabeled as disruptive, defiant, or lazy. With this understanding, they can be seen for who they truly are: children and youth with brains that work differently, who need consistency, patience, and tailored support to succeed.
The Education System in BC
BC promotes inclusive education, meaning children with diverse abilities are supported in mainstream classrooms whenever possible. For caregivers, it helps to understand a few key tools and players:
- Individual Education Plan (IEP): A written educational plan that describes adaptations, modifications, and services provided.
- According to the BC Ministry of Education, an IEP does not require a formal diagnosis. If a child is struggling and needs consistent adaptations, the school team can put an IEP in place.
- When FASD is not recognized as a physical, neurobiological disability, schools may overlook critical accommodations or apply the wrong strategies, which can increase frustration and anxiety for students.
- Chronic Health Impairment Category: The BC Ministry of Education recognizes FASD as an “eligible disability” under this category, allowing districts to access additional Inclusive Education funding.
- This means extra resources may be available for supports such as specialized materials, therapists, or classroom aides.
- A diagnosis is not always required; eligibility is based on how the condition impacts the child’s ability to learn.
- To access this funding, the district must have an IEP in place with documented goals and supports.
- Learning Support Teachers and Education Assistants (EAs): Key members of the school team who coordinate and provide direct support.
Rights and Ongoing Advocacy
Part of your role as a foster caregiver is to advocate for the children and youth in your care. While social workers are also involved, caregivers play a day-to-day, critical role in ensuring students with FASD get the supports they need in school.
- You have the right to participate in IEP meetings and decisions.
- You can request accommodations that reflect your child’s brain-based needs, even if they don’t have a diagnosis or the school is unfamiliar with FASD.
- You can expect regular communication and progress updates.
Supports should not be removed just because a child is doing well. In my experience as both a parent of a young adult with FASD and as the first FASD Key Worker in British Columbia, I’ve seen time and again that success usually reflects the supports in place. When those supports are taken away, difficulties quickly re-emerge. That’s why ongoing advocacy is so important—it ensures children and youth continue receiving the resources they need at all ages and stages.
Common Accommodations and Strategies
Some of the most effective strategies for students with FASD include:
- Visual schedules and consistent routines.
- Short, concrete instructions broken into steps.
- Sensory breaks and tools like headphones or fidgets.
- Predictability across staff and classrooms.
- Strength-based learning that highlights what the child does well.
These strategies may look simple, but for children and youth with FASD, they are often the difference between thriving and shutting down.
Advocacy Tips for Caregivers
Advocacy doesn’t mean confrontation—it means making sure your child’s needs are clearly understood and supported.
- Before an IEP meeting: Write down your child’s strengths, challenges, and strategies that work at home.
- During the meeting: Ask for clarity about who will provide each support.
- If concerns persist: Escalate respectfully from teacher to principal to district.
- Connect with other caregivers: Caring Families Society offers a mentorship program that brings caregivers together, helping you feel less isolated and more supported as you navigate the school system.
- Seek outside support: FASD Key Workers can help advocate alongside you.
- Work with the social worker: They are part of the child’s care team and can help support your advocacy with the school.
- Remember: Teachers, principals and social workers may change, but you remain the consistent voice for your child.
Celebrate small wins. Hold onto your child’s strengths. Every bit of advocacy you do today helps you set your child or youth up for success.
Resources for Caregivers
- Caring Families Society: Offers support, training, resources, and a mentorship program that connects foster caregivers so you don’t have to walk this journey alone.
- Connect with an FASD Key Worker: They can help you navigate the school system, understand your child’s needs, and link you to community resources.
- BC Ministry of Education – Inclusive Education: Policies and guides that outline student rights and school responsibilities. These can be useful reference points in IEP meetings.
- POPFASD (Provincial Outreach Program for FASD): A resource for educators that provides FASD-informed teaching strategies. Caregivers can encourage schools to access this program to strengthen classroom supports.
- Online FASD Networks and Support Groups: Virtual spaces were caregivers can connect, share strategies, and reduce isolation.
Success at school is a big deal for children and youth with FASD. Without the right accommodations and consistent support, school can become a source of frustration, rejection, and failure.
A proper education is more than academics. For students with FASD, it is a protective factor that reduces the risk of secondary disabilities such as mental health struggles, school drop-out, involvement with the justice system, or substance use.
With the right advocacy and teamwork between caregivers and educators, school can become a place where children and youth with FASD not only learn, but thrive.
References & Further Reading
Read more in this series:
FASD Awareness Day: Why Talking About Drinking During Pregnancy Matters
FASD: A Whole-Body Condition Every Foster Caregiver Should Understand