Heart Breaking Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Jun 20 '00
I am writing this epinion on the heels of something that has happened to us over the weekend that has broke my heart. A good set of our friends has a little 9 year-old boy, Brandon, that has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He was living with his dad and step-mom until now. This past weekend he was put into foster care in a mental hospital because his mother was stupid enough to drink while she was pregnant with him.
Brandon tried to drown his 3 year-old little sister in the swimming pool. This was not the first time that something like this has happened with him, but this is by far the worst. He has torn all the wallpaper off in his room, threatened to kill his father with a butcher knife, tried to poison the family cat, and many more unspeakable things. Most of the time he would not act upon his urges, but this time he did.
He has been in counseling for well over a year now, but that did not seem to help. I feel sorry for his father and stepmother because they feel that they could have done more, but they did all they could. Poor little Brandon is not the one to be upset with, but his mother is the one we should just put under the jail. Brandon will have to live with this for the rest of his life. Before he was put in the hospital, he was taking about 15 different drugs daily just to get by as good as he was.
So you ask me what exactly is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Well, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a pattern of malformations and disabilities resulting from a pregnant woman drinking heavily during her pregnancy. FAS will not occur if the father was drinking heavily or if the pregnant woman was drinking a very small amount of alcohol on rare occasions. Heavy drinking on a consistent basis or binge drinking on an occasional basis can produce FAS. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is currently the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects do not go away. Once the brain is damaged, it is permanent. Most of the damage that occurs in the brain is a result of the brain tissue not moving and growing where it should, resulting in areas of the brain which are not developed at all or are underdeveloped. Neuronal connections that should have been made are simply are not there. Since brain tissue does not regenerate, this damage to the brain is permanent, especially if the tissue did not form initially. It doesn't ever get better.
I am listing below just a few problems that can or will occur in FAS babies and children.
~~Low birth weight
~~Failure to thrive (eat and grow well)
~~An exaggerated startle response
~~Poor wake and sleep patterns
~~Hyperactivity, distractibility and attention deficits
~~Impulsiveness
~~Temper tantrums
~~Lying and stealing are common behaviors
~~Poor social skills
Brandon has displayed most, if not all of these horrible symptoms. There is good news about FAS though; it is 100% avoidable. Although it is too late for Brandon, it is not too late for millions of other babies. Individuals in their child-bearing years, both men and women, need to know the grave harm that can be caused to an unborn child by drinking during pregnancy. Think what you are doing to that baby before you take a drink and DON’T DO IT!!!
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