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Research Log #1

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 14 September 2017
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD is a spectrum disorder, resulting in unique treatments for children affected by this
disorder.
#3: There is a clear correlation between alcohol exposure in utero and health defects
during child development. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the
population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: # 1: FAS and FASD are not considered 'national health priorities.'
Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):
"They didn't know about fetal alcohol syndrome. They just thought of us as lazy parents with children who are difficult to
control," said Kathryn White.
"But outside those circles, few people understand the challenges that children damaged by alcohol face."
"People have no idea the range of physical and behavioral problems these children have," said social worker Janis Reid,
the adoptive mother of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome.
"A lot of our professional systems don't know what to do with these kids," Reid said. "People say: 'They should know
better. What's wrong with them?' They fall through the cracks in school, tend not to qualify for services and don't get a lot
of their needs met."

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


This article suggests that fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, otherwise known as FASDs, are not as recognized by
the American population as they should be. FASDs and other disorders caused by drug dependency and alcohol exposure
in young children are a fairly new epidemic that is quickly spreading through foster care systems across the nation. With
this influx of FASD children in the foster care system, and with little experience with the proper actions to treat them, the
states and foster care systems do not know how to properly take care of these children. Because the disorders are unique
and specific to each child suffering with FASD, most children have to go through multiple treatments to find the one that
suits them the best, which is a hassle for many foster parents.
Because Americans are so unfamiliar with treating children with FASD, many teachers blame parents of children
with FASD for their inability to "control their children." Many don’t understand the struggles that these families face and
often blame the child's misbehavior on bad parenting. FASDs are sometimes not recognized by teachers and schools as
disorders and disabilities because they don’t understand the behavioral issues that these children have. There is a large
range of disabilities that fall under the umbrella of FASD, which makes the damage hard to label. The trauma that these
children face due to their disabilities can also be combined with the trauma that comes with growing up in dysfucntional
families and bad experiences in the foster care system.
When children with FASD reach the age of 18, they become legal adults, which makes taking care of themselves
an obstacle. Children that have FASD at the age of 18 are not independent enough to be able to live on their own and take
care of themselves, however, they are not dependent enough for the state to care for them. At this age, foster parents also
stop receiving the funds to care for foster children after they become legal adults, which, at most times, leaves children
with FASD without the funds they need to receive proper treatment for their lifelong disorders.
Work Cited (correct MLA format):
Banks, Sandy. "Raising a Foster Child Damaged By Alcohol." The Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times. 13
September 2017. Web. 18 May 2015
I assume that this a reputable and reliable source because it was published in The Los Angeles Times.
Research Log #2

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 22 September 2017
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD is a spectrum disorder, resulting in unique treatments for children affected by this
disorder.
#3: There is a clear correlation between alcohol exposure in utero and health defects
during child development. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the
population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: # 1: FAS and FASD are not considered 'national health priorities.' We need
more awareness of FASD in order better understand and accommodate FASD children.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


" Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause a number of physical, behavioral, cognitive, and neural impairments,
collectively known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD),” says author Dr. Nathen J. Murawski, Ph.D.
“Diagnosing FASD continues to be a challenge, but advances are being made at both basic science and clinical
levels,” he says.
“Basic research also is pointing toward potential new interventions for FASD involving pharmacotherapies,
nutritional therapies, and exercise interventions,” says Dr. Murawski.
“Some studies suggest that women who drink during pregnancy have nutritional deficits relative to control
subjects,” say Murawski and his team of doctors.

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


The author of this journal, Doctor Nathen J. Murawski suggests and further proves that FASD is not a widely
talked about issue in the U.S. population. FASD is described as a nondiagnostic term spectrum term used to refer to the
wide range of disorders that are derived from prenatal alcohol exposure in utero. Murawski explains that prenatal alcohol
exposure is one of the hardest disorders to diagnose because of the wide spectrum of symptoms and defects. For example,
FAS, or fetal alcohol syndrome, is easily identified and characterized by obvious growth retardation, central nervous
system dysfunction, and craniofacial abnormalities, which are classified as being on the “far end of the spectrum.”
However, most children suffering from the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure show none of these physical abnormalities
and do not meet the criteria to be diagnosed with FAS. Instead, they have neurobehavioral impairments, resulting in the
diagnosis of alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND). However, in order to be diagnosed with ARND, it is
required for parents to provide confirmation of prenatal exposure. This can often be unreliable or unavailable, especially
in foster care children. Without the proper diagnosis, it makes it almost impossible for these children to receive the proper
treatments. Doctors have attempted and done studies to provide new technological ways to diagnose FAS.
A diagnosis of FAS or any other prenatal alcohol exposure signifies permanent brain damage. For this reason, it is
important that doctors establish FAS early on in the pregnancy so that the proper treatments can be taken to increase its
effects. Children with and earlier diagnosis have shown to have improved outcomes to treatments. Doctors have been
using treatments for cognitive and behavioral disorders as a template to create unique treatments for FAS children. There
have been recent pharmacological interventions that have proved to have a positive effect such as vinpotecine (which
helps to increase brain plasticity) and neuroprotective peptides.
Although there have been many advances in the diagnoses and pharmacological, nutritional, and environmental
treatments of FAS and ANRD, there is still much to be learned about the disorders that stem from prenatal alcohol
exposure. Because FASD covers a wide spectrum of disorders, there are many limitations to treatments. Many prescribed
treatments target specific deficits in patients, however, it does not treat the varied deficits that the patient may have. In
order to better understand these patients, we must first find specific markers that allow is to diagnose them and we must
better understand their specific disorders.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):


Murawski, Nathen J. " Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders." US National Library
of Medicine. National Institutes of Health. 21 September 2017. Web. 2015
I assume that this a reputable and reliable source because it was published in the US National Library of Medicine.
Research Log #3

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 26 September 2017
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children are often bullied for behaviors that they can’t control.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of
FASD children.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


According to Doctor Nancy Poole, “FASD is the leading cause of preventable developmental disability among Canadians,
affecting approximately 1% of the population.”
Poole and her group of doctors In Ottawa, Canada “have created a four-part framework of FASD prevention to capture the
range of efforts required.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


Author Nancy Poole and her team of obstetricians and gynaecologists at the Center of Excellence for Women’s
Health in Vancouver, Canada have developed a four-part framework of FASD prevention to reduce the population of
infants born with an alcohol-exposure related disorder. FASD is recognized as the “leading cause of preventable disorders
in newborn in Canada.” This means that the disorder is 100% preventable, yet still appears as the most occurring disorder
in newborns. They hope that through their four-part system all efforts to prevent and treat alcoholism in new and
expectant mothers can be addressed and work together to improve women’s health and reduce the overall risk of having a
child born with FASD.
There are four levels to their prevention process. Level 1 deals with advertising and media. This is the foundation
of prevention and is usually the step that comes into mind when one thinks about prevention. In this level, pamphlets,
advertisements, and warning labels are used to create an overall awareness of the risks of drinking alcohol during
pregnancy. Level 2 deals with brief intervention for all women of childbearing age. The idea behind this stage is to start
teaching girls from a young age the risks of alcohol usage during pregnancy. Discussions include prenatal supports,
contraception and pregnancy planning, and the ways to cope without alcohol during pregnancy. Level 3 is designed to
treat and educate girls and women at a higher risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancy. They offer specialized, holistic
treatments for women with alcohol and health/social problems. Level 4 provides postpartum support for new mothers who
have already given birth to infants with FASD. At this level, they provide support and encouragement for these mothers to
make, or continue to make, changes in order to prevent another alcohol-exposed pregnancy. They also help with child
assessment and development.
So far, the four-part framework for FASD prevention has had a significantly positive outcome. Poole has reported
there has been a successful reduction of alcohol-usage during pregnancy and that more and more women and girls are
seeking treatment at all levels. Though the program has shown much success since it was established, there are a few
barriers. One of the biggest barriers to overcome is accessibility. A lot of women in rural and “ghetto” areas don’t have
access to doctors or staff that are educated in the four-part prevention system or of FASD in general. Another barrier
would ne the stigmatization of women with FASD children. Many women do not seek treatment for the fear that they will
be judged by doctors and staff providing the treatment that they need. Lastly, Poole found that most women do not seek
treatment for the fear of the involvement of child protective services. Child welfare policies in Canada mandate the
reporting of alcohol use during pregnancy and act to separate children from substance using mothers at birth as opposed to
the welcoming and supportive community that Poole and her doctors have created in the four-part system.
Work Cited (correct MLA format):
Green, Courtney. Hensing, Natalie Poole, Nancy. Schmidt, Rose A. “Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder:
Current Canadian Efforts and Analysis of Gaps.” British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health
Vancouver, BC, Canada. Libertas Academica. 21 September 2017. Web. 2016.
I assume that this is a reputable article because I found it on EBSCO.
Research Log #4

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 03 October 2017
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: There is a larger prevalence and population of FASD children in foster care than in normal
family units.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness
of FASD in order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


According to researchers, under this new law, “foster parents in Minnesota are far less likely to be in the dark about one of
the leading causes of developmental delays in children.”
“The system isn’t broken for these kids. The system doesn’t even exist,” says Sara Messelt, executive director of the
Minnesota Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
The population of foster children with FASD is “ten times higher than the general population, because foster children
often come from families with histories of alcohol abuse.”
Linda Walinski says, “If we don’t know what we’re doing, then these kids will never realize their full potential.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


Minnesota has become the first state to require that newly licensed foster parents attend an hour of training on
parenting strategies for children with FASD. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is a fairly new and advancing developmental
disorder that, currently, not many health care providers are aware of. With the lack of awareness about the list of
deficiencies that fall under the umbrella of FASD, doctors, health care providers, foster parents, and teachers are in the
dark about how to properly treat children with FASD. Through this new law, doctors and psychologists hope to increase
awareness and proper parenting strategies for parents.
Because not much is known about FASD in general, there is also a high risk of misdiagnosing a child with FASD.
Early diagnosis is crucial for FASD because it dictates further treatment plans for these children. Without it, children
often cannot receive the correct treatment, or will receive the wrong treatment, which could agitate their condition. There
is also a high risk of the condition being undiagnosed and leaving these brain-disordered children without a treatment.
Because of their misdiagnosis, parents are also unaware of how to reprimand and connect with their children, often giving
them harsh punishments for things that they cannot control. Children with FASD often cannot understand the reason why
they are being punished, with only causes and increase in stress and agitation. In raising awareness about FASD, doctors
also hope to increase the amount of people that are trained to identify, recognize, and treat the effects of prenatal alcohol
exposure.
In 2013, Minnesota had the “second-highest rate of alcohol consumption among women of childbearing age.”
This resulted in an average of 7,000 children being born with FASD amongst the state population of newborns.
Researchers have also found that the rate of FASD in the care system is about ten times higher, on average, compared to
the general population. This is due to the fact that many mothers who are not sober throughout their pregnancy cannot
provide for their child at birth and have histories of alcohol, or substance, abuse.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):


Serres, Chris. “Minnesota is the First State to Require Foster Parents Learn About Fetal Alcohol Disorders.” Minnesota
Star Tribune. Mayo Clinic. 04 October 2017. Web. 16 May 2016.
Research Log #5

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 11 October 2017
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from society for their
uncontrolled behaviors.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from
society for their uncontrolled behaviors.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


“We’re going to do our best to make him as functioning a member of society as we can,” says parents of their adoptive 7-
year-old son Jayden who was born with FASD.
“When he calms down he understand what he’s done wrong, he just doesn’t understand it in the moment,” says Jaden’s
parents about his inability to see the consequences of actions.
“People didn’t really want to be my friend, and I never understood why because I like the same things and I had the same
interests,” says Katherine Law, a 34-year-old still living with the effects of an alcohol-exposed pregnancy.
“She became slow, delayed development, and naughty because other people believed that she should have achieved these
milestones, that when she’s told to do something, she’ll do it. But with Katherine, it doesn’t work like that. You have to
tell her a hundred times patiently and not get angry,” says Katherine’s mother.
Parents with non-FASD children often “don’t understand why parents [of FASD children] seem to over-coddling [their]
children.”
Parents struggling to raise children with FASD have “no help from social workers and are just classified as being bad
parents.”
“The best parenting in the world cannot change the brain damage caused by alcohol.”
“She’s having a fuller life, but she’ll never have her own life. And I just think that this disability is totally preventable, but
women don’t believe it.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


FASD is a disorder with no limitations of effects on those who have it. Many who struggle with FASD, depending
on when and how much alcohol was exposed in utero, are unable to make positive decisions for themselves and often
cannot understand the consequences of their actions. Upon first examination, many children with FASD are misdiagnosed
with ADHD and hyperactivity, which is just the tip of the iceberg. In order to be diagnosed with FASD, one criteria that a
child must meet is having an IQ of 70 or below, which is well within the retarded range. However, FASD is only known
to knock back 10 to 20 points, meaning that some FASD children do not fall with the 70 or below range, making them
ineligible to receive the proper care and treatment. Some children with FASD have incredibly high IQs are forced to
struggle with their disease because doctors fail to recognize that there is anything wrong with them.
Raising a child with FASD takes extreme patience on behalf of parents and siblings. For every interaction, you
must think about how what you’re doing will impact their reaction. In public, FASD children often become overly
stimulated, causing them to lash out and create a scene, which is every parent’s worst nightmare. They often will yell and
hit, not thinking about the consequences of their actions. Onlookers will often judge and criticize parents for their inability
to control their child’s behavior without having the thought that the child may have FASD cross their minds. Other
parents may not understand why parents are over-coddling their child for their misbehavior, when in fact children with
FASD have to learn to grow up at their own rate.
Children with FASD face as much, or even more, criticism and scrutiny as their parents. Just as onlookers may
judge parents for their inability to control their children, children with FASD are criticized for their incontrollable
impulsiveness. In schools, children with FASD are unable to follow simple instructions and are cause for huge disruptions
on a daily basis. Because not enough is known about FASD in everyday society, children don’t understand how it may
affect their fellow classmates struggling the disease. Like any other misunderstood child, they are shunned and forced to
live in isolation from their other schoolmates. They may face harsh name-calling and bullying, an experience that severely
harms their social development.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):


Attitude. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. YouTube , 2016.
I’m assuming that this is a reliable source because this video was posted by a verified YouTube account.
Research Log #6

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 04 January 2018
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from society for their
uncontrolled behaviors.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from
society for their uncontrolled behaviors.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


The authors state, according to research, “FAS children who are also hyperactive are more likely to be referred for
treatment since their behaviour is disruptive in family and school settings.”

The author states that, “Two studies have found that children with prenatal exposure to alcohol were rated by their
teachers as less socially competent and more aggressive in the classroom than their classmates.”

The author states that, “The most salient problems were failure to consider the consequences of one's actions, lack of
responsiveness to social cues, and poor interpersonal relationships.”

The author states that, “On the Personality Inventory for Children (PIC), the two domains identified by parents of
FAS/FAE children as being the most problematic were cognitive function and delinquency. These children were more
likely to exhibit antisocial behaviours, lack consideration for the rights and feelings of others, and to resist limits and
requests made by authority figures.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is not an easy disorder for modern day doctors to diagnose. This is due,
in part, by the fact the we do not have the technology to accurately measure when and how much alcohol the fetus was
exposed to in gestation. Exposure to alcohol can have varying effects depending on the stage of development that the fetus
was exposed. Doctors usually don’t learn about the fetus’s alcohol exposure until many years after the child is born, when
they begin to exhibit behaviors that parallel the behaviors of those affected by FASD. Children also cannot be diagnosed
with FASD unless they meet very specific criteria, such as facial distortion. Because many alcohol exposed children do
not meet these requirements/criteria, they cannot receive the same treatment that other children with FASD would.
Without proper diagnosis from a doctor, many children cannot receive special treatment in school that tend to their special
needs. They are forced to function and live as the average child would when their brains are far less developed than the
average child. Children with FASD tend to have a lack of social responsiveness, lack of consideration for others, failure to
consider the consequences of their actions, and exhibit antisocial and delinquent behaviors. Because of their inability to
control these behaviors, teachers and authority figures unaware of their mental struggles often reprimand them harshly for
their repeated bad behavior, when in fact the child cannot see that they have done anything wrong. Due to these
experiences during their childhood development, they often develop feelings of low self-esteem and incompetence or
inferiority.
Work Cited (correct MLA format):
Jacobson, Sandra. Joseph Jacobson. “FAS/FAE and Its Impact on Psychosocial Child Development.” Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorders (FASD), Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, Feb. 2003
I’m assuming that this is a reliable source because this was published in an online Encyclopedia.
Research Log #7

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 05 January 2018
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from society for their
uncontrolled behaviors.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from
society for their uncontrolled behaviors.

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


The author states that, “The mothers of these more negative infants interacted in ways that were less responsive and
developmentally stimulating, and their infants displayed higher levels of insecure attachment behaviours.”

The author states that, “investigators found that in a group of children living in poverty, there was an even greater
association between PAE and attachment insecurity.”

The author states that, “prenatal exposure in the poverty sample also related to temperamental differences in the child, and
these temperamental differences affected the mother’s ability to relate to her child on an emotional level.

“Prenatal exposure to alcohol did not predict symptoms of schizophrenia but was predictive of symptoms of mania and
hypomania. These results confirm that children with PAE exhibit significantly more symptoms of psychopathology,
including mood, anxiety and disruptive disorders, when compared to children without exposure,” states the author.

The author states that, “A follow-up study of this cohort at age 21 revealed a strong relationship between prenatal binge
drinking and alcohol use disorders in the adult offspring,” about binge drinking in PAE adults.

The author states that, “In addition to psychiatric symptoms, early work from the Seattle Longitudinal Prospective Study
on Alcohol and Pregnancy revealed a relation between exposure and early experiences with alcohol among young
adolescents33 that developed into heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems in early adulthood.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

Alcohol exposure in utero has varying effects during the life span of PAE offspring. From birth, we can see a
difference in infants exposed to alcohol during gestation and those who were not. Those exposed to alcohol have been
found to form insecure attachments to their mothers and caregivers. They don’t form the same normal bond that average
infants would with their mothers and instead experience negativity or indifference towards their presence. These infants
show common behaviors of jitteriness, irritability, autonomic instability, slow habituation, low levels of arousal, and
increased levels of activity or disturbances in sleep patterns. Their insecure attachment to their mothers and caregivers as
infants often enable them to have less interpersonal relationships later in their teen and adult years. In their middle
childhood years, PAE children often exhibit signs of early childhood depression by the time they are six years of age. The
also show signs of separation anxiety disorder, general anxiety disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,
opposition disorder, and conduct disorder. They are unable to for relationships with their peers and with the adults in their
lives as a result to their insecure attachments during infancy. They also show early behaviors being antisocial and
delinquency. As adults, offspring exposed to alcohol show higher levels of conduct disorder than in their early and middle
childhood years. They exhibit behaviors closely related to illicit substance use disorders, alcohol dependency, and
antisocial/behavioral disorders. They are more likely to become addicted to and misuse alcohol and other drugs as they
mature. They also develop a strong dependence on toxic substances earlier in life than the average person.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):


O'Connor, Mary J. “Socioemotional Functioning of Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.” Fetal Alcohol
Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development, Feb. 2011.
I’m assuming that this is a reliable source because it was published in and online Encyclopedia.
Research Log #8

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 06 January 2018
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from society for their
uncontrolled behaviors.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of
FASD children

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


The author states that, “Combined 2011 to 2012 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show
that 8.5 percent of pregnant women aged 15 to 44 drank alcohol in the past month. Also, 2.7 percent binge drank.”

The author states that, “Within two hours of maternal ingestion, fetal alcohol blood levels are similar to maternal alcohol
blood levels.”

“As noted in the above discussion, an individual with FAS may experience a lifelong litany of both physical and
intellectual challenges,” states the author.

The author states that, “Infants of mothers who drank during pregnancy may experience a spectrum of consequences that
range from "fetal alcohol effects" (FAE), alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD), and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Fetal
alcohol syndrome is regarded as the most severe. Some children sustain no obvious side effects of maternal alcohol
consumption during pregnancy.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


FASD is a disease that is 100% preventable. It’s a disease that does not have to exist. However, it is one of the
leading causes of birth defects in the United States. It affects an average of about 1% of the infant population in America.
Expectant mothers that expose their unborn child to alcohol do not know, or sometimes do not care, about the mental,
physical, and emotional harm that they are causing for their children. Children born with FASD, FAS, or PAE live lives
filled with difficulty and tribulations all because their mothers did not care enough to stop drinking during their
pregnancy. These children are also forced to live being constantly ridiculed by those in our society who do not understand
or are not aware of FASD. Though it affects a large part of the population, many adults are not taught to heed the
behavioral differences of those with FASD. Adults and authority figures often ridicule and reprimand these children,
however, children with FASD are unable to see the faults behind their actions. This leads the child to believe that they are
being punished for just being themselves, which causes feelings of low self-esteem.

Work Cited (correct MLA format):


Mersch, John. “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS): Learn the Symptoms and Signs.” Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD), MedicineNet, July 2013.
I assume that this is a reliable source because it was published by a medical journal by a medical doctor.
Research Log #9

Name: Tristen Yagyagan


Date: 06 January 2018
EQ: How can the experiences of a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder affect their psychosocial and mental
development?
Three Points to Prove: #1: FAS and FASD are not 'national health priorities.' We need more awareness of FASD in
order to better understand and accommodate FASD children.
#2: FASD children and their parents are often placed under scrutiny from society for their
uncontrolled behaviors.
#3. We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of FASD children.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Point that this Source/Information Proves: We have to find solutions and preventions to decrease the population of
FASD children

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):


The author states, “Alcohol is a human teratogen with marked effects on the developing brain.”

The author states, “It is by far the most common human teratogen, with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)
being the most common cause of developmental disability, affecting more than 1% of the general population in
North America.”

“Fewer than 10% of individuals with FAS are able to take care of themselves or live independently, regardless
of IQ,” states the author about the independence of FASD adults.

The author states that, “a baby doesn’t have a fully developed liver that can process alcohol, so alcohol can
easily get to and damage the baby’s organs. Prenatal alcohol exposure can result in a number of birth
complications including premature birth.”

The author states that, “Suspension, expulsion or drop out was experienced by 43% of children of school age in
the Streissguth sample. Involvement with the police, being charged or convicted of a crime was experienced by
42% of those in the study, and by about 60% of those age 12 and over. Alcohol and drug problems were
experienced by 30% of individuals age 12 and over in Streissguth’s sample.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):


Children with FASD are completely innocent, however, they are the ones who suffer the most. When in the womb,
fetuses have no control over what they are being exposed to. It is the responsibility of the mother to care for the fetus and
protect them from harm. However, many mothers don’t think about the consequences of their actions. They become
selfish and drink alcohol, failing to think about the harm that they are putting their unborn child in. Before taking a drink,
they don’t think about the mental and physical defects that they are putting their child in danger of. It is the child that is
left to suffer from their mother’s senseless drinking. They are forced to live with illnesses, such as ADHD, OCD, ODD,
and many other health defects. They are defenseless against their condition. The saddest part is that their disease is
completely preventable. If their mothers had not taken drinks during their pregnancies, they could live normal, average
lives. But, because of their mother’s recklessness, they live under constant scrutiny for the behaviors that they are
biologically and physically unable to control. They also live as outcasts, constantly on their own due to the fact that many
people don’t understand or know about their disease.
Work Cited (correct MLA format):
Shea, Kathryn. “Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Increasing Potential for Children Prenatally Exposed to Alcohol.”
International Journal of Birth and Parent Education, vol. 4, no. 4, Summer 2017, pp. 29-33

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