FASD Across America: The Social and Emotional Impact of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (2023)

Undergraduate: Emmaus Holder

Faculty Advisor: Lisa Pearce
Department: Sociology

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This study set out to understand the impact Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) has on the social and emotional life and well-being of caretakers of those with FASD. This study’s participants had current or previous experience caring for individuals diagnosed with FASD and were 18 years old or older. These specifications were made to reflect the disposition and perspective of caretakers dealing with the ramifications of these disorders. I rode a bicycle from city to city, stretching from coast to coast. I conducted in-person semi-structured interviews with participants about their experiences, struggles, and success in caring for someone with an FASD. I found that caretakers face hardship in dealing with these challenges: the ramifications of executive dysfunction in their children, the unattainable standards for success in communities surrounding those with the disability, the widespread struggles in obtaining a diagnosis, the absence of necessary resources and services, and the combined emotional toll these things bear. The need for their hypervigilance is draining and exhausting, and their communities are threaded with external doubt in their parenting methods. Caretakers of those with FASD are calling for improved services, greater access to them, and a restructuring of societal values and expectations through widespread education on FASD.

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