N.W.T. team to offer FASD diagnoses, support
Last Updated: Monday, October 5, 2009 | 10:48 AM ET
CBC News
A team of doctors and social workers in the Northwest Territories will soon be able to diagnose and support children who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD.
The diagnostic team of neuropsychologists, pediatricians, social workers and family support workers is being set up at Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife. Training is expected to begin in March.
Infants and children up to age 16 will be referred to the team by doctors or nurses. While the team will be based in the capital city, its services will be accessible to families across the territory.
"It's very very hard to support a person, especially a teenager, that might be affected if they don't know themselves that they're affected," said Tammy Krivda, a Yellowknife foster mother who has cared for numerous children with FASD over the past 16 years.
"So with a diagnosis, it's empowering for them because they can say, 'I need help with this,' and therefore their needs are going to be met more."
Health-care professionals would not only give an official diagnosis of FASD, but they would also work with the families of children with FASD to develop plans for the future.
"A meeting would happen with the family and the team members, and the results would be discussed and then a follow-up plan would be developed," team co-ordinator Barb Beaton said Friday.
The team will create a full profile of a child's developmental and emotional needs. A support worker will meet with families to make sure the child's environment meets their needs.
Currently, the N.W.T. has no dedicated diagnostic or support services for FASD, and parents seeking them have to go elsewhere or find a professional on their own.
While Krivda said she's glad the territorial government is helping children with FASD, she said she hopes the diagnostic team will also help adults someday.
"It's a lifelong disability, so if we put supports in place only up to a certain age, it's not going to help them in the long run," she said. "So we need to continue the supports."
