Educating Families and Professionals

FAS Curricula Now Available!

In 2001, CDC funded four nonprofit organizations to develop and evaluate educational curricula for various audiences about fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other prenatal alcohol-related disorders and how to access appropriate services for children with FAS and their families. After being tested through multiple trainings and found to be effective, materials from these four organizations are now available. More about each curriculum is described below.

The Arc of the United States—Silver Spring, Maryland
The Arc has developed and tested a comprehensive curriculum that can be presented to adult learners in a workshop format. Three modules address general information about FAS and related disorders, components of care for children with these conditions, and advocating for services and supports. Using this curriculum, The Arc has conducted over 30 trainings in approximately 20 states for more than 1,000 participants, such as parents/caregivers, professionals, and trainers. For more information about these materials and how to order them, please visit http://www.thearc.org.

Double ARC—Toledo, Ohio
Double ARC has developed and tested separate training curricula for parents and teachers. The parent curriculum describes the core deficits of children with FAS and related conditions, teaches effective parenting techniques addressing these deficits, and directs parents to service resources for children, including school programs. The curriculum for teachers describes FAS and related conditions, ways to recognize children who might have the condition, and approaches to enhancing school performance. Double ARC has also created a video on FAS available for use with the curriculum. Double ARC offers training for facilitators who will be teaching the parent classes. These materials have been tested with more than 400 participants in sessions for parents and teachers. For more information about these materials and how to order them, please visit http://www.doublearc.org.

Education Development Center—Newton, Massachusetts
The Education Development Center has developed and evaluated an online education package about FAS and related conditions; collaborated with state agencies to identify and prepare a state cadre of trainers; developed, facilitated, and evaluated an online training-of-trainers (TOT) course to prepare state trainers; and collaborated with state agencies to develop a system for providing FAS awareness sessions in schools targeting school staff and parents/caregivers. The content of the TOT and awareness sessions includes a comprehensive review of the physical, neurodevelopmental, and behavioral characteristics of children with FAS; secondary disabilities; needed services; family stressors and coping strategies; and what schools can do with limited community resources. The TOT program was conducted with more than 200 participants from 18 states and Guam. These trainers then delivered school-based workshops in their respective states. The training materials, including a how-to guide for states, are now available on CD. For more information about these materials and how to order them, please visit http://www.edc.org.

National Indian Justice Center—Santa Rosa, California
The National Indian Justice Center has developed and tested a training curriculum that focuses on increasing awareness of FAS and related conditions and encourages a cooperative approach to referring and responding to persons with FAS within the tribal community. The curriculum includes information about the medical and psychological aspects of FAS and related conditions. It was developed to target American Indian populations and is designed for use by tribal court judges, law enforcement personnel, social service workers, tribal leaders, medical health providers, mental health providers, housing authority personnel, teachers/educators, and non-tribal judicial system personnel. The curriculum has been tested with more than 400 participants from tribes in California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. For more information about these materials and how to order them, please visit http://www.nijc.org.

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