50,000 babies a year are born with an alcohol related disability. Alcohol causes more serious neurological damage to the unborn baby than all illicit drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. Seventeen percent of children born with FAS die within their first week of life. Low intellectual ability with an average IQ of 68. Some degree of brain damage is involved with FAS, which will have significant effects on their lives.
Damage includes signs of delay in development, intellectual impairment or neurological impairment.
Learning and behavior problems are extremely common. Yet they often go unrecognized and misunderstood. Children with FAS often look normal and test average, therefore expectations by teachers, parents, and employers may be unreasonable and unrealistic. Failure to recognize and diagnose FAS can result in the possibility of adequate support and intervention not being provided. This sets up a cycle of failure which can have severe effects.