​The theme for FASD Awareness Day 2024 is “Everyone Plays a Part." FASD parents need and deserve to be surrounded by supports, and that means involving a whole-community-of-care approach. It is important to work together to find and implement strategies that will help create supportive, inclusive environments for people with FASD and their families.

It is also important to break stigma surrounding FASD and promote understanding and acceptance both for children and parents. In the past, blame was often placed on parents who drank alcohol while pregnant. This led to a lack of understanding, social acceptance and assistance for the parents, which in turn negatively impacted the rights of the person living with an FASD disability.

Ongoing community education about FASD and its challenges is important to undo the stigma surrounding FASD, create a more understanding and inclusive environment, and allow for the same mainstream acceptance and accommodation of neurodiversity accorded to any other pediatric disorder. Accommodations include FASD-friendly spaces, workplace modifications, educational supports, and social integration.

Achieving these goals will require a collaborative/interdisciplinary approach, i.e., one where health care providers, educators, and social services professionals work together to treat patients. This can also include traditional healers providing cultural supports for wholistic wellness.

Empowering FASD families includes providing them with resources and supports such as caregiver assistance, support groups, and even early interventions. This is where the theme that “Everyone Plays a Part" is so important – every person truly can make a difference in the lives of an FASD family. Perhaps the most important thing community members can do is show kindness and acceptance with a friendly smile or encouraging words. This will foster a culture of acceptance and patience, help break down stigma, and create opportunities for those with FASD to thrive.

If you are able to do more, you can offer respite care to families affected by FASD, volunteer at local support groups or organizations dedicated to FASD, advocate for better resources and services in schools and health care settings, or provide mentoring for individuals with FASD.  

FNHA Supports for FASD

If you are an FASD parent, or are supporting somebody who is, the FNHA can help. The FASD program supports the development of culturally appropriate evidence-based prevention, promotion, and early-intervention programs related to FASD. Using a home-visitation model, the FNHA currently funds care providers to visit the homes of FASD families in 32 communities in BC to provide information and guidance. We are working to expand these services to communities that are still un- or under-served, and to reduce wait times in connecting community members and families with these services.

For more information, see:

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Program​​