Monday, October 18, 1998
Drinking during pregnancy tragic
Alcohol damages babies' brains
BY DEBORAH KENDRICK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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Group meets
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The Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Alcohol Related Birth Defects support group meets the third Tuesday of every month, 7:30 p.m., alternating locations between Northern Kentucky Easter Seals and the Greenhills Community Presbyterian Church. Families, professionals, caregivers and others interested in FAS are welcome.
For information, call the Northern Kentucky Easter Seals, (606) 491-1171.
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When Pam Norris was growing up, she says she often felt like a misfit. She didn't understand things the way others did, she says, but adults just called her lazy or slow.
After ''barely'' graduating from high school, she tried a series of jobs, from waitressing to factory work. There, too, she knew she was different - having difficulty concentrating, understanding, remembering what to do. She was never in any one job for as long as a year.
Four years ago, Ms. Norris of Springdale felt as though ''a huge weight was lifted . . . I had answers. Finally, I knew why I understand things the way I do. I finally could say I know who I am.''
Both Pam Norris, 30 at the time, and her son, Nathan, then 7, were diagnosed as ''classic'' examples of individuals with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS).
Just finding a doctor able to make the diagnoses was a challenge. In the Tristate, Ms. Norris says, too little is known about the devastating preventable condition.
''Doctors here just patted me on the back and told me not to be so hard on myself,'' she recalls.
Good friends and her own searching led her to Dr. Annemarie Sommer, a geneticist at Columbus Children's Hospital, who diagnosed the pair almost instantly. The awareness of fetal alcohol syndrome has changed her life.
Ms. Norris is actively involved in a support group for families with fetal alcohol syndrome and is looking forward to attending a national conference this week to learn more.
The conference is the sixth annual conference of the Family Empowerment Network, designed to offer education and support to families, caregivers and professionals interested in fetal alcohol syndrome. Governors of both Ohio and Kentucky have proclaimed this week Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Week, and a similar proclamation has been signed by Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls.
FAS, the leading cause of mental retardation, is responsible for a host of other disabling condition in children and adults. Heart defects, asthma and headaches are among the physical problems that can be traced to a mother's consumption of alcohol while pregnant or nursing. The most devastating disabilities, however, are not visible.
''It's like someone took a shotgun and put holes in the part of her brain that handles self-control and the difference between right and wrong,'' says one mother whose adopted daughter was diagnosed 10 years ago with fetal alcohol syndrome, and who now, as an adult, will always require 24-hour-day supervision.
''Her brother, also adopted, had mental retardation, too, but he was still able to learn and now has his own apartment. Even before the diagnosis of FAS, we just knew that our daughter was different.''
Despite irrevocable brain damage, developmental delays, attention problems, learning difficulties, unpredictable behavior and social awkwardness, one in five pregnant women continues to drink.
Whether they are ''social drinkers,'' as Ms. Norris says she was during her pregnancy, or ''lifelong alcoholics,'' as she describes her birth mother, the results can be equally damaging. Any alcohol consumed during pregnancy poses serious consequences for an unborn child.
Ms. Norris says her life today is good. Because she and her son have been diagnosed, they receive Supplemental Security Income rather than welfare, a distinction that brings with it some measure of dignity.
Ms. Norris feels good that her son is included - with the help of an aide - in his Springdale Elementary School, receives special services there and participates in Special Olympics each spring.
If either Ms. Norris or her mother had been alcohol-free when pregnant, she might have other things to be happy about, too.
Deborah Kendrick, a Cincinnati free-lance writer, is a nationally recognized advocate for people with disabilities. Write: Deborah Kendrick, Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202; e-mail: 71340.473@compuserve.com.
KENDRICK ARCHIVE
