Children with FAS may have:

Problems with hearing, vision or speech

Mental disabilities

Smaller head size

Distinctive facial features

Poor growth before and after birth

Learning problems

Behavior problems

What about men?

Pregnancy is a shared experience. A man can support his partner by not drinking during her pregnancy.

by Janet Smellie
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 27/97) - Two-year-old Bridgette Richardson smiles as she jumps into her mom's outstretched arms. Earlier, during the reception at the Great Hall of the legislature, she had run about the room with the ordinary abandon of any child who's in a room full of adults.

But Bridgette is far from an ordinary two-year-old. She was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, or FAS, a condition she will carry with her forever.

Bridgette's story, as well those of other people diagnosed with FAS and FAE (Fetal Alcohol Effect) is now available in "Helping Children, Helping Families," a video recently made by the Yellowknife Association for Community Living.

Designed for parents, the video not only offers clear information about FAS and FAE, but for the first time demonstrates ways to help children who are affected.

Parents, including Bridgette's, share their experiences, community workers discuss issues of denial and grieving and professionals demonstrate how they work to support these children and their parents.

Lona Hegeman, an early childhood intervention consultant with Health and Social Services didn't hesitate to claim this video is an important tool for families across the North.

Hegeman, who recently offered members of Pauktuutit, the Inuit women's organization, a special screening of the film, foresees the video as becoming a vital educational tool for many people.

"It went so well, they were so impressed ... and we're talking about women from all areas of the North including Quebec and Labrador."

Hegeman said the video is a first to offer "coping strategies" at a time when most materials available relate to the diagnostic side of FAS and FAE.

Mary Richardson, who appears in the video with Bridgette, her adopted daughter, hopes this video will help young girls who don't yet realize how detrimental drinking during pregnancy can be.

"There's a lot of young girls getting pregnant who abuse alcohol, not realizing what they're doing."

Helen and her husband Bob adopted Bridgette from their niece, and with the help of community groups in Rae have been offering her the extra attention she needs.

"She was sick a lot of the time when she was young, but she's over that now.... It's a lot of work, but my husband my family have been very supportive," Richardson said.

"Hopefully this will open some eyes and the mothers will be able to see that there can be so many problems if they drink."

The Department of Health and Social Services is in the process of having the video translated into several languages, including Inuktitut.

When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol it can damage the unborn baby. Problems occur because alcohol poisons the rapidly growing fetus. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is the name given to a group of physical and mental problems caused in the fetus when the mother drinks.