Children of the spirit

FTLComm - Tisdale - May 24, 2000

school board meeting
The school board meeting was well underway with most of the board present, the elementary school principal and I as the high school principal. A discussion was in progress, this was an excellent school board with experienced wise individuals sitting around the table in the elementary school room used for the meeting, when in came the town doctor. He was a welcomed addition to the board and had taken an active part in its work for the past yea,r but tonight he had arrived late for the meeting. This was not an unusual occurrence, as he was greeted and the discussion continued. In a few moments his agitation could no longer be contained as he interrupted the topic at hand and began to tell us about what was troubling him. He clearly respected the opinions of his fellow board members, but the issue that was burning in his heart and mind was more important.

fetal alcohol
"I just delivered a baby tonight" said the doctor, without the pride and joy that should accompany such announcement. "This is the third one this week" he continued looking even more concerned "and all, everything single one" he paused as anger filled his thin tired face "fetal alcohol."

pregnant mothers drinking
There was silence in the room, surely this was a serious problem but how did it relate to us as a school board and the two of us as principals. Though most of us at the table knew something of the problem, pregnant mothers drinking producing children who might be somewhat impaired. This was 1982 and no doubt there would be problem births now and then. But as the Doctor spoke we all began to recognise that he was not talking about a random event, but a recurring situation where children were being brought into the world who would have to start life with less capability then others. As he explained what he was seeing the anguish and dire concern he expressed was spreading around the table. Indeed this was a situation that required our attention and the rest of that meeting and many others that would follow were devoted to what the Doctor had brought to us.

late eighteenth century
What is "fetal alcohol syndrome"? Discovered first in the late eighteenth century the condition was well documented during the eighteen and nineteen hundreds largely by the Dutch and German researchers who found the problem epidemic among factory workers children in the early industrial revolution era. It was well known in England at the time, though much less English research was done, it definitely was one of the primary motivations for the series of work reform laws that were introduced in England and no doubt was one of the reason the English encouraged the consumption of low alcohol content beer instead of the infamous and high octane bathtub gin of the era.

both father and mother drank heavily
Fetal alcohol syndrome was thought to be damage done to the unborn fetus caused by the mother consuming alcohol especially during the first trimester of the pregnancy. Later studies revealed that the most profound and damaged infants was occurring where the father was alcohol dependent. Though pregnant mothers would injury their unborn child by consuming alcohol the most damage was coming from couples where both father and mother drank heavily.

varying
degrees
of affect
As with other forms of brain and nervous system disorders, the amount of damage is over an extremely wide range, from simple minimal and minor affects, to profound disabling conditions. Just as a person who sniffs solvents can be affected a little, the more they have carried on the behaviour, the damage to the central nervous system is a continuum of damage. It is therefore extremely dangerous to classify or label a person with "fetal alcohol syndrome" or "fetal alcohol affects" simply because the varying degrees of affect that have occurred are unique to each individual. Social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists do not like to use the term because of the lack of precision with the condition and the remarkable capabilities of each individual to find means of coping with the capabilities they have.

very short attention span
Our doctor was able to identify the nervous system damage to newborns by the sound of their cry which he considered distinctive and signalled to him that this infant had been exposed to alcohol prior to his birth. Teachers report the most obvious symptom and evidence of the condition to be a very short attention span which leads to a rather noisy figidy child. The child's inability to be calm and to concentrate restricts his or her ability to learn as easily as other children. Special education teachers with lots of experience dealing with children affected by prenatal alcohol consumption have been able to identify some general characteristics that seem to go with the child's inability to concentrate. They note that like a child who has reduced learning capacity, the fetal alcohol syndrome child can effectively learn tasks, but should the learning or acquired skill be incorrect, the child will have enormous difficulty unlearning, resulting in frustration and often anger. Playground supervisors all report children who share this problem are amazingly daring at play, they are rambunctious and often their behaviour can lead to violent interactions with others. Employers of people identified with the problem, discover the limitations of their employee and that they are often happy cooperative workers who enjoy doing a task they have learned to do well and are frequently valued employees for this reason.

do not involve unlearning
The problem is that there is a serious problem with generalising what you might find with a person who has started life with this central nervous damage. However, I can safely say that if teachers are patient and the child is given ample opportunity to acquire skills and training that is positive and involves positive step by step learning techniques that do not involve unlearning, the results can be excellent. The primary problem of being limited in being able to concentrate can be compensated for and in most cases the individual will find effective ways of coping.

grossly exaggerated
This week Judges have been commenting about their difficulties in dealing with criminal behaviour from people who have identified fetal alcohol syndrome is in my opinion, grossly exaggerated. Criminal, or antisocial behaviour among people affected with this problem should suffer no greater run ins with the law than the normal population, proportionately. There is nothing specific about the condition that makes individuals more criminal. Certainly, the more profoundly affected are often frustrated, but that applies to everyone.

People who suffer from want
Once the child is created with central nervous system damage, we as a society are responsible for helping this person through life, and assisting them to have the best lives they can. Our primary concern must be like our doctor, to find ways and means from preventing the condition from developing in the first place. The number one cause of alcohol abuse in the early industrial revolution, now and will always be, poverty. People who suffer from want will seek refuge from spirits in liquid form and therein lies the seed of this social problem.

Sincerely

Timothy W. Shire


*FTLComm - Tisdale - May 24, 2000*

school board meeting	The school board meeting was well underway with most of the board present, the elementary school principal and I as the high school principal. A discussion was in progress, this was an excellent school board with experienced wise individuals sitting around the table in the elementary school room used for the meeting, when in came the town doctor. He was a welcomed addition to the board and had taken an active part in its work for the past yea,r but tonight he had arrived late for the meeting. This was not an unusual occurrence, as he was greeted and the discussion continued. In a few moments his agitation could no longer be contained as he interrupted the topic at hand and began to tell us about what was troubling him. He clearly respected the opinions of his fellow board members, but the issue that was burning in his heart and mind was more important.

fetal alcohol	"I just delivered a baby tonight" said the doctor, without the pride and joy that should accompany such announcement. "This is the third one this week" he continued looking even more concerned "and all, everything single one" he paused as anger filled his thin tired face "fetal alcohol."

pregnant mothers drinking	There was silence in the room, surely this was a serious problem but how did it relate to us as a school board and the two of us as principals. Though most of us at the table knew something of the problem, pregnant mothers drinking producing children who might be somewhat impaired. This was 1982 and no doubt there would be problem births now and then. But as the Doctor spoke we all began to recognise that he was not talking about a random event, but a recurring situation where children were being brought into the world who would have to start life with less capability then others. As he explained what he was seeing the anguish and dire concern he expressed was spreading around the table. Indeed this was a situation that required our attention and the rest of that meeting and many others that would follow were devoted to what the Doctor had brought to us.

late eighteenth century	What is "fetal alcohol syndrome"? Discovered first in the late eighteenth century the condition was well documented during the eighteen and nineteen hundreds largely by the Dutch and German researchers who found the problem epidemic among factory workers children in the early industrial revolution era. It was well known in England at the time, though much less English research was done, it definitely was one of the primary motivations for the series of work reform laws that were introduced in England and no doubt was one of the reason the English encouraged the consumption of low alcohol content beer instead of the infamous and high octane bathtub gin of the era.

both father and mother drank heavily	Fetal alcohol syndrome was thought to be damage done to the unborn fetus caused by the mother consuming alcohol especially during the first trimester of the pregnancy. Later studies revealed that the most profound and damaged infants was occurring where the father was alcohol dependent. Though pregnant mothers would injury their unborn child by consuming alcohol the most damage was coming from couples where both father and mother drank heavily.

varying degrees of affect	As with other forms of brain and nervous system disorders, the amount of damage is over an extremely wide range, from simple minimal and minor affects, to profound disabling conditions. Just as a person who sniffs solvents can be affected a little, the more they have carried on the behaviour, the damage to the central nervous system is a continuum of damage. It is therefore extremely dangerous to classify or label a person with "fetal alcohol syndrome" or "fetal alcohol affects" simply because the varying degrees of affect that have occurred are unique to each individual. Social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists do not like to use the term because of the lack of precision with the condition and the remarkable capabilities of each individual to find means of coping with the capabilities they have.

very short attention span	Our doctor was able to identify the nervous system damage to newborns by the sound of their cry which he considered distinctive and signalled to him that this infant had been exposed to alcohol prior to his birth. Teachers report the most obvious symptom and evidence of the condition to be a very short attention span which leads to a rather noisy figidy child. The child's inability to be calm and to concentrate restricts his or her ability to learn as easily as other children. Special education teachers with lots of experience dealing with children affected by prenatal alcohol consumption have been able to identify some general characteristics that seem to go with the child's inability to concentrate. They note that like a child who has reduced learning capacity, the fetal alcohol syndrome child can effectively learn tasks, but should the learning or acquired skill be incorrect, the child will have enormous difficulty unlearning, resulting in frustration and often anger. Playground supervisors all report children who share this problem are amazingly daring at play, they are rambunctious and often their behaviour can lead to violent interactions with others. Employers of people identified with the problem, discover the limitations of their employee and that they are often happy cooperative workers who enjoy doing a task they have learned to do well and are frequently valued employees for this reason.

do not involve unlearning	The problem is that there is a serious problem with generalising what you might find with a person who has started life with this central nervous damage. However, I can safely say that if teachers are patient and the child is given ample opportunity to acquire skills and training that is positive and involves positive step by step learning techniques that do not involve unlearning, the results can be excellent. The primary problem of being limited in being able to concentrate can be compensated for and in most cases the individual will find effective ways of coping.

grossly exaggerated	This week Judges have been commenting about their difficulties in dealing with criminal behaviour from people who have identified fetal alcohol syndrome is in my opinion, grossly exaggerated. Criminal, or antisocial behaviour among people affected with this problem should suffer no greater run ins with the law than the normal population, proportionately. There is nothing specific about the condition that makes individuals more criminal. Certainly, the more profoundly affected are often frustrated, but that applies to everyone.

People who suffer from want	Once the child is created with central nervous system damage, we as a society are responsible for helping this person through life, and assisting them to have the best lives they can. Our primary concern must be like our doctor, to find ways and means from preventing the condition from developing in the first place. The number one cause of alcohol abuse in the early industrial revolution, now and will always be, poverty. People who suffer from want will seek refuge from spirits in liquid form and therein lies the seed of this social problem.

	Sincerely *Timothy W. Shire*