Primary Disabilities

A Primary Disability is a disability caused directly by Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.

Individuals with FASD may have the following types of Primary Disabilities:

Academic Achievement

May have learning disabilities

Adaptive Behaviour and Social Skills

May act younger than their age
May have problems making and keeping friends
May not understand social cues or body language
May have poor understanding of personal boundaries
May have difficulties with personal hygiene

Affect Regulation

May struggle to regulate their emotions

Attention / Hyperactivity

May be easily distracted
May say whatever comes to mind
May struggle to stay focused on a task
May be constantly in motion

Cognition

May have difficulty planning and following through with a plan
May have difficulty with abstract concepts
May struggle to understand another’s perspective

Executive Functioning Skills

May have poor impulse control
May have difficulty with math, money, time, ownership and consequences
May struggle to understand cause and effect in situation
May have poor judgement
May be unable to take learning from one situation to another
May have difficulty organizing, planning and coordinating
May have trouble transitioning

Language and Communication

May not understand subtle jokes or statements that have a double meaning
May takes things very literally
May be able to repeat an instruction, but then cannot complete the task

Motor Skills

May have trouble with coordination, balance and control

Sensory Integration

May have a sensitivity to light, sound, texture or touch
May have a low or high pain tolerance

Learning and Memory-encoding/working memory

May seem to understand a concept one day, and not understand it the next day
May have trouble storing and retrieving information from their memory, leading to an inconsistent performance on tasks
May have difficulty finding items
May have memory gaps, and story tell/ fill in the blanks as a result

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References

Cook JL, Green CR, Lilley CM, et al.; (2015) Canadian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Network. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: a guideline for diagnosis across the lifespan. CAMJ.

Debolt, Donna (2015, September). FASD A child centered perspective. Hamilton Wentworth District School Board. Hamilton, Ontario.

Malbin, D. V. (2002). Trying Differently Rather Than Harder: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (2nd Ed.). Portland, OR: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Consultation, Education and Training Services (FASCETS), Inc.