Ana Hanlon-Dearman

Challenge Identifying children who are at risk of FASD early on can be challenging. Often receiving a formal diagnosis requires confirmation of prenatal alcohol exposure, which isn’t always possible. The current FASD diagnostic assessment process also typically happens once a child is school-aged because existing tools lack the sensitivity to identify young children and infants. [...]

Challenge Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which results from prenatal alcohol exposure, is the most common cause of neurodevelopmental impairments in the western world, with an estimated prevalence of 3-5% in Canada, and as high as 11% in some communities. Diagnosing the disorder is time-consuming and costly — but early diagnosis of children at risk [...]

Challenge Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) exhibit a wide variety of brain abnormalities. These abnormalities include a small head and brain relative to body size, an underdeveloped cerebellum, and thinning of the corpus callosum. However, children with FASD display have such a wide range of brain anomalies that the exact relationship between structural [...]