Professionals without
Parachutes:
Building Communities of Practice to
Support Students with Fetal Alcohol
SpectrumJacqueline
Disorders
(FASD)
Pei, Ph.D., R.Psych.
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Alberta
Tracy Mastrangelo
Program Coordinator
Wellness, Resiliency and Partnerships
Today’s agenda

Welcome and Introductions


Small Group Discussions:





What have been your experiences?
Break
“FASD and the Brain”
Lunch
Small Group Discussions:


Invitation to collaborate.
Applying a new lens: Revisiting our experiences.
Wrap-Up


Summarizing a new approach and establishing steps for action,
reflection, and communication.
Exit Pass
Today’s goals



Building a shared understanding.
 What have been your experiences? Challenges?
 What is FASD?
 Establishing a process based understanding.
Re-examining our challenges through our new shared
understanding
How can we apply a new process based approach to
support the needs of students with FASD?
Goals moving forward...

Have the opportunity to continue to apply a process
based approach using the “ARC” framework

Build a relevant and meaningful community of practice to
support your work with students with FASD

Contribute to our understanding of how to intervene
with students with FASD by sharing successes and
hurdles
A new approach to professional learning:
Professionals without Parachutes
Let’s talk!
What have been your experiences? What are your
biggest/most difficult challenges when supporting
individuals with FASD?


In your groups, please discuss your challenges and use
the flipchart to list and rank order top 3 (approximately
45 minutes).

One spokesperson per group to report back, please list
all names on your flipchart paper
Beginning with a shared
understanding:
FASD and the Brain
What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD)?
Brain injury to the developing brain
 Caused by alcohol exposure in utero
 May look different in different individuals
 A “consistent pattern of inconsistencies”

How is FASD diagnosed?

Three considerations:
 Prenatal Alcohol Exposure
 Facial Dysmorphology
• Brain Impairment
The impact of alcohol

Brain injury:
 Language
 Memory
 Adaptive function and social communication
 Academics
 Executive functions
 Attention
 Intelligence
 Motor functioning
 Affect Regulation
The impact of alcohol
On developing structures
 On the processes of functioning
 On emotional regulation

Alcohol is a teratogen - it kills brain cells
during development
(diagram courtesy
Wendy Comeau)
Developing Structures

Structures and
function are affected
at a basic level of
development
Developing Structures
Is scattered
 The developing brain:
a complex process of
cell growth, division,
migration,
differentiation,
and so on.

Developing Structures

That said, the impact is compounded at higher
levels of brain development
 Reptilian brain – basic survival and selfdefense
 Limbic brain – processing emotions, critical to
learning and memory
 Neo-cortex – synthesis and complex thought
Developing Structures
From Structure to Processes of
Function
What does the FASD
brain look like?
12 year old
Male
Control
IQ 130
98th
percentile
for reading
12 year
old Male
FASD
IQ 74
1st
percentile
for reading
Grey
matter
White
matter
Looks the
same even
though we
know the
child with
FASD is
clearly
impaired
White matter microstructure
 OK
 Not OK
Lebel et al 2008 ACER
Emotional Regulation

We know:
 Adverse early life experiences sensitize or prime the
stress system → Hyper-reactivity to subsequent,
even mild, stressful life events.
 Repeated stress over the life course will ultimately
result in a maladaptive cascade of neurobiological
events → increased vulnerability to illnesses,
including to depression, anxiety and substance use
disorders
(Weinberg 2012)
Emotional Regulation

We also know:
 Stress, per se, does not cause mental health
problems
 Pre-existing HPA abnormalities may be a major
contributory factor to some forms of depression,
anxiety and substance use disorders
(Weinberg 2012)
Emotional Regulation in FASD
In summary: The impact of alcohol
There is clear evidence of brain injury due to alcohol
that is diffuse and impacts many different systems
 This injury has a significant impact on day to day
function
 Therefore, FASD may often be an invisible disability …
…yet has very visible consequences

Adverse outcomes may include:
Streissguth et al. (1996) longitudinal study

Measured secondary disabilities among 415 individuals
(6-51 years old) with FASD.

More than 90% had mental health problems

Other secondary disabilities: inappropriate sexual
behaviors, disrupted school experience, trouble with
the law, alcohol and drug problems
Let’s talk!

Applying a new lens. In your groups, please return to your
list of challenges and discuss:
 What are the possible root causes?
 What is the underlying function of the behaviour?
 What are alternative explanations for theses challenges?

Use the flipchart to brainstorm your answers
(approximately 45 minutes). One spokesperson per
group to report back.
Professionals without Parachutes
Building communities of FASD best-practice to support differentiated learning in the classroom.
Brain not Blame Tip Sheet
Reframing FASD from disability to “dif”ability.
Try to move from seeing the student in the terms described in the
, to the terms described in the
. Please see the helpful tips in the
.
ã Professionals without Parachutes (Pei, Poth, & Hayes, 2013)
Developed (with many thanks!) in collaboration with the staff at J. Percy Page High School, Edmonton, AB.
Moving Forward…



We may see an uneven pattern of performance that
varies between individuals: FASD is a complex disorder
with multiple influences, at bio psychosocial levels of
function
So how do we respond to this variation?
 Move from a script to improvisation based on
understanding of underlying brain and resulting
behaviour
That said some structure can still guide our improvisation
ARC model of practice
Action
Reflection
Communication
Reframing Goals for Students with FASD
Things to remember when setting goals:
S
• Specific – Clearly define and iden fy
• Answer – Who, What, Where, When, Which, Why?
• Example – “be er behaviour” is too broad, but a specific goal
would be “to not be removed from math class”
M
• Measurable – Establish concrete criteria for measurement
• Answer – How will I know when the goal is accomplished?
• Example – Stay in math class for the whole class, 4 of 5 mes a
week (without being sent to the hall or office)
A
• A ainable – Find ways to make goals achievable, experience
success first
• Answer – What are achievable steps that foster the goal?
• Example – Start with a baseline (how many mes are they being
removed now); if a good week means that they make it through 2
classes a week – set that as the first goal
R
• Relevant or Realis c – All those involved must be both willing and
able to work towards the goal
• Answer – How helpful, relevant, and/or realis c is this goal?
• Example – It is relevant to learn new coping strategies, and
realis c to expect a endance, also translatable to the workforce
T
• Time-bound or Tangible – Grounded within a specific meframe,
and can be experienced defini vely
• Answer – When will the goal be met, how will it be experienced?
• Example – Set a specific date, also review gains, setbacks, and the
overall experience (see INVEST model, may need tweaking)
ã Professionals without Parachutes (Pei, Poth, & Hayes, 2013)
PP_TS_Feb. 21/12
Goals moving forward...

Have the opportunity to continue to apply a process
based approach using the “ARC” framework

Build a relevant and meaningful community of practice to
support your work with students with FASD

Contribute to our understanding of how to intervene
with students with FASD by sharing successes and
hurdles
Next steps:

Build an action plan to support your community of
practice
 Who will be a part of your community?
 How will you meet? Please plan to interact at least 3
times between now and our next workshop day in
May
 Do you have a WRaP success coach to help facilitate
your community?
 What are your personal goals? How will you be
intentional and what actions will you take between
now and our next meeting?
Building communities of FASD best-practice to support differentiated learning in the classroom.
Working with students with FASD can be very challenging. Taking me to acknowledge some of our
nega ve feelings and to make efforts to shi them may help us move forward. The words of other
teachers like you highlight the important role you play in the lives of students with FASD.
“It’s not that they don’t want to be
here – it’s that they don’t know how
to be here or how to be successful”
“If they’re at school and they’re happy, and they leave
their day happy – they’ve had a successful day!”
“Teaching in a special educa on
classroom has taught me more
about teaching “
“I’m coming
from the
place of this
child”
Stay calm
“They just
want to be a
part of the
whole”
Focus on being a
suppor ve rela onship
Keep a journal of
the small things
Reread your journal
when you need a boost
Prac ce pa ence
Be an advocate for your
student(s)
Recognize and celebrate
small successes
Make a difference in
the moment
Be an advocate with and for
your colleagues and
profession
Communicate
with others
“My program func ons 100% be er
than it ever would without one - EAs
are essen al tools! They’re there for
the kids”
Share strategies
Start each day/hour/minute fresh
- live in the moment!
Frustrated
Not mee ng academic goals
Focusing on failures
Focusing on failures
Feeling lousy
Reframe
your (and
their) goals
Dwelling on the past
Emphasizing deficits
Feeling unproduc ve
FASD Educator
©Professionals without Parachutes (Pei, Poth, & Hayes, 2013)
Developed (with many thanks!) in collabora on with the staff from the Elk Island Public School District
Professionals without Parachutes
Building communities of FASD best-practice to support differentiated learning in the classroom.
Strategies to support students with FASD are not clear cut. In order to unlock success, it’s important to have and use many different keys.
Supp
Re l a
onsh
or v
e C om
muni
ip
ty
Belongin
g
Advocacy
king
e Thin
v
a
e
Cr
© Professionals without Parachutes (Pei, Poth, & Hayes, 2013
Developed (with many thanks!) in collabora on with educators from High Prairie, AB.
Take time to take care of YOU!
Contact Information
Jacqueline Pei, Ph.D., R.Psych.
Departments of Educational Psychology and
Pediatrics
University of Alberta
Email: jpei@ualberta.ca
Tracy Mastrangelo
Program Coordinator
WRaP Program
Email: tmastrangelo@gsacrd.ab.ca
Website: www.wrapschools.ca
Resources: www.engagingalllearners.ca