It has been found that about two percent of children in the U.S. show some signs of prenatal alcohol exposure. It wasn’t until the late 70’s that scientists began to recognize the connection between alcohol consumption and birth defects and developmental problems in their children. Today, the problems are more documented. Millions of babies are born worldwide that are affected by the conditions of FASD. FASD can happen for many reasons. In low-resource settings, a combination of biological, social and economic factors might contribute to prenatal alcohol exposure. Pregnant woman might not know how risky drinking during pregnancy can be. Another issue that can might cause FASD in a child is if their mother doesn’t change their drinking habits until they realize they are pregnant. Often they don’t find out until the second trimester when the damage to the fetus might have already occurred.  The diagnosis of FASD can sometimes be difficult. Not all of alcohol-exposed children have the distinctive facial abnormalities and other physical traits associated with this condition. (Understanding FASD-Rise @ Duke, 2016).

FASD causes brain damage to the child that is permanent. Although the brain is damaged, it is still able to work, just in different ways. It is very important to acknowledge the link between the brain and the behavior of the student. Behavior is a brain-based activity. FASD is a physical disability and it usually has very few outward signs. It is important for the teacher to always understand that the student is not behaving like this on purpose. It’s not that they WON’T do something, its that they CAN’T do it. (Blaskchke, Maltaverne and Struck, 2009).

Primary affects of FASD are those caused by brain damage from alcohol.

• Information from the 6 senses does not get into the brain correctly.

• Information is not sorted properly once it is there.

• Executive function on the stored information is defective.