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FASD Awareness Day 2006 marks the 8th anniversary of the first International FASD Awareness Day. Families, caregivers and advocates from all around the world gathered to raise awareness, so that the world will remember that during the nine months of pregnancy a woman should abstain from alcohol consumption. Several activities have been planned across the United States to observe FASD Day. The following link has details of events and activities from the US and around the world. http://www.fasday.com/
In 1999, Bonnie Buxton of Toronto, Canada, a birth mother of a daughter with FASD, organized the first International FASD Awareness Day, a worldwide collective effort to raise awareness for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The day began as a poignant effort by a group of committed families, advocates and volunteers to warn the world about the dangers to a child born to a mother who consumed alcohol during pregnancy. The symbolic recognition of the nine months of pregnancy—the moment of nines: ninth minute, ninth hour, ninth day, ninth month—is observed each year as International FASD Day. NOFAS recently honored Bonnie Buxton and her husband Brian Philcox for their tireless efforts in advocating for FASD prevention. For more, please visit: http://www.nofas.org/Buxton.aspx
Earlier this year, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) led the effort to pass a resolution among the United States Senate formally recognizing September 9 as FASD Awareness Day in the United States. For details, please visit: http://capwiz.com/nofas/issues/bills/?bill=8953166. Several states have also issued proclamations dedicated to FASD awareness.
Senator Murkowski is scheduled to speak on the Senate Floor on the importance of alcohol use during pregnancy to commemorate this year's International FASD Awareness Day. To read the Senator's speech to Stone Soup Group, please visit: http://www.nofas.org/Stone_Soup_Group.aspx.
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