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Twenty-one-year-old woman in Montana with severe Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. She weighs only 30Kg and is only 110cm tall, and has stopped growing. Her mother and father were both Native Americans and she spent her first two years in an incubator. At twelve she was removed from a foster home where she was apparently beaten for wetting her bed. Her foster mother says she "lives in her own happy world". She can't really talk but understands verbal communication somewhat, is able to scrawl her own name, but unable to read or write, and her prospects for leading an independent life seem very slim. Sometimes she has visions that cause her to rear her head around toward the ceiling. Her foster mother calls this "talking to the angels."

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a term used to describe the damage some unborn children suffer when their mothers drink during pregnancy. Alcohol in the mother's bloodstream can be toxic to the developing fetus depending on the stage of pregnancy and how much she drinks. Damage can range from subtle to severe, causing clumsiness, behavioral problems, stunted growth, disfigurement, intellectual disability. Thousands of babies are born with alcohol-related defects each year, ranking FAS as one of the leading known causes of intellectual disability. Not all mothers who drink have babies with FAS. Some doctors believe that any alcohol puts the baby at risk, while nearly all agree that binge drinking is perilous, especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when many women don't yet know they are pregnant. Fetal alcohol syndrome has a predictable long-term progression into adulthood in which maladaptive behaviors present the greatest challenge to management.

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Twenty-one-year-old woman in Montana with severe Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. She weighs only 30Kg and is only 110cm tall, and has stopped growing. Her mother and father were both Native Americans and she spent her first two years in an incubator. At twelve she was removed from a foster home where she was apparently beaten for wetting her bed. Her foster mother says she "lives in her own happy world". She can't really talk but understands verbal communication somewhat, is able to scrawl her own name, but unable to read or write, and her prospects for leading an independent life seem very slim. Sometimes she has visions that cause her to rear her head around toward the ceiling. Her foster mother calls this "talking to the angels."<br /> <br /> Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a term used to describe the damage some unborn children suffer when their mothers drink during pregnancy. Alcohol in the mother's bloodstream can be toxic to the developing fetus depending on the stage of pregnancy and how much she drinks. Damage can range from subtle to severe, causing clumsiness, behavioral problems, stunted growth, disfigurement, intellectual disability. Thousands of babies are born with alcohol-related defects each year, ranking FAS as one of the leading known causes of intellectual disability. Not all mothers who drink have babies with FAS. Some doctors believe that any alcohol puts the baby at risk, while nearly all agree that binge drinking is perilous, especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, when many women don't yet know they are pregnant. Fetal alcohol syndrome has a predictable long-term progression into adulthood in which maladaptive behaviors present the greatest challenge to management.

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