Objectives:
By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
1. List 3 challenges to recognizing FASD;
2. Identify 4 disorders that could co-occur with an FASD;
3. Discuss the difference between co-occurring disorders and co-occurring issues;
4. Describe how recognizing a co-occurring FASD impacts interventions.
Abstract:
Many individuals with an FASD have co-occurring mental health and other issues. Some reasons for this are genetic vulnerability, personality structure, repeated experience of loss, trauma, and stress, and environmental experiences. In addition, behaviors seen in FASD in school, at home, and in treatment settings are often mistaken for psychiatric illnesses such as oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), reactive attachment disorder (RAD), and in adults, antisocial and borderline personality disorder. It is very important to distinguish whether a person has a true co-occurring mental health issue or whether the behaviors are due to the brain damage due to FASD. Even if a person with an FASD has a co-occurring mental health disorder, the treatment for that disorder must be modified to effect positive outcomes. This presentation will identify mental health issues in individuals with FASD, discuss why those with FASD have to be approached differently in education, treatment, home, and other settings, and will examine strategies geared to the recognition of what is causing the behaviors that we see.
About the presenter:
Daniel Dubovsky, MSW, LSW, FASD Specialist
Dan has worked for over 35 years in the fields of mental health and developmental disabilities.
Dan has presented regionally, nationally and internationally on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, focusing especially on interventions for children, adolescents and adults.
