FASD Diagnosis Hidden by ADHD Symptoms
Jon Bennett has often written about the huge problem of ADD/ADHD misdiagnosis. This problem makes me think of the old proverb that says: “If you only have a hammer
everything looks like a nail!” Lately medical professionals have become fixated on giving a diagnoses of ADD to children that is usually the first conculsion that is settled on for (This despite the fact that there is no objective standard with which to measure probable symptoms!).
A good point coming out of this is that having an ADD/ADHD finding can usually just be narrowed down to what over the years has been called having ‘ants in the pants’! Unfortunantly, it more common that final decision of ADD/ADHD actually hinders the doctor from discovering something more dangerous
conditions.
In more recent research it has come out that many of the common signs of the mother’s excessive use of alcohol use are commonly taken to be ADD/ADHD. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a serious condition (or perhaps, more correctly, range of conditions) that afflict many children whose mothers used too much alcohol while they were still in utero. The depth of the effects FASD has on the physical and mental health of a child
can be nothing short of devastating and it is one of the reasons why alcohol is best avoided during pregnancy. Most commonly seen signs of FASD include the following:
Underdeveloped growth: FASD children show evidence of slower growth terms of height and weight.
Cranial deformities: Research shows that there is a correlation between excess use of alcohol and cranial adnormalities
destructiveeffect}. This possibly can span from delayed development of the brain to the onset of critical syndromes of the nervous system (e.g. epilepsy and seizure disorders). This can also have the manifestation of manageable handicaps or in the conditions from growth hinderance. Most commonly seen of these are:
• Not easily adjusting to group setting
Recollection difficulty
• pulled away, impulsive
• Difficulty in daily use of senses
• Difficulty in mastering motor skills
It is obvious that this last list can very easily be mistaken for a description of what doctors use to see if the condition is ADD/ADHD!
This fact has serious consequences for those suffering from FASD. The previously mentioned report administered by the University of Toronto with with the Hospital for Sick Children at Surrey Place Center, surmized that there are a growing number of FASD children not getting assistence due to incorrect diagnoses of ADD/ADHD.
The primary target took 33 children with FASD, 30 ADHD children and 34 children with no disorders flagged up was the subject of functioning socially. It has been proposed that children with Fatal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder who are not correctly diagnosed early on are in grave danger of developing serious issues with behavior if not addressed appropriately. One of the authors of the research report, Joanne Rovet, had the following to say about this: “In terms of social cognition and emotional processing, the core deficit in FASD appears to be in understanding and interpreting another’s mental states and emotions. These problems with social cognition and emotion processing may underlie the severe conduct problems seen in children with FASD. It is imperative that these children receive assistance in social and emotional processing domains, specifically targeting interventions to deal with their unique deficits.”
The research emphasizes what has been said many times about the risks that misdiagnoses
to ADD/ADHD diagnosis can be. Also, it stresses the importance of incorrect conclusion can go either direction. On the one hand it leads essentially healthy children into a system where they have to have to unnecessarily take dangerous drugs on a daily basis. It also keeps, on the other hand, children who need highly specially designed medical care that FASD needs from obtaining it because many physicians are almost conditioned not to look beyond the ADD/ADHD conclusion.
If you suspect that FASD could be a factor in your child’s problems you should take heart. There are many assistance and management programs for FASD exist. It should therefore never be seen as a ‘life sentence’ to a low functioning and problem filled life. It is critical to pull together resolution to start. More often than not parents with a child who has FASD will be slow to look for help, or to flag up maternal alcohol use during pregnancy as a possible factor, because of the social stigma that is sometimes attached to the condition. I want to encourage everyone to not let the issues from the past that have not gone well to take over the decisions on the future of the child. Once you take the first step, you will discover assistence exists and the disorder can be maintained most of the time with great success.
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