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Glenn Martyn Pearson Symons BA (Education) PhD Candidate B.A. (Hons) PhD. Director of First Nations Strategy and Leadership; Head, First Nations
Young people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) can face significant challenges in their lives, including overrepresentation in the justice system from a young age. Police questioning and court proceedings can be difficult for these young people to navigate. Practice and policy responses are necessary to identify these individuals, provide appropriate support/rehabilitation, and upskill the justice workforce. The aim of this research was to determine the unmet workforce development needs of a regional workforce providing care and support to youth involved with the justice system.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a condition caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol and characterised by severe neurodevelopmental impairment which have lifelong implications. Impairments in executive function, memory, cognition, language and attention are common, and can lead to early and repeat engagement with the criminal justice system.
Evidence based strategies are needed to enhance the ability of the Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) sector to prevent prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and harms including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). In Australia FASD prevention research has largely focused on primary care and child development sectors, while little research has been conducted with AOD services providing comprehensive support to high risk women.
Prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures have been associated with adverse mental health consequences in offspring. The objective of this study was to test the associations between maternal prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposures and depressive symptoms in the offspring, adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders.
Epidemiological evidence suggests offspring exposed to prenatal alcohol are at increased risk of alcohol use disorders in adulthood. The evidence on the risk of developing harmful alcohol use in adolescence is less clear.
The current article outlines how individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder may experience inequities within the justice system
Almost of 10% of children with FASD has significant motor impairment. Evaluation of motor function should routinely be included in assessments for FASD.
Aboriginal children living in remote Western Australia have poor visual-motor integration skills regardless of prenatal alcohol exposure or FASD
There was widespread agreement of the need for more information and training about FASD to optimise outcomes for people with FASD engaging with justice system