NOFAS' Upcoming Events
April 25th NOFAS Donor Breakfast in Washington, D.C.
Senator Lisa Murkowski and other special guests will join NOFAS for a breakfast on April 25 to rally support for the June Leadership Awards Benefit. The gathering gives prospective donors the opportunity to meet board members and other friends of NOFAS and learn about the organization’s important work. Plan to join the breakfast as our guest on Tuesday, April 25, at the Monocle Restaurant on Capitol Hill. Contact Tom Donaldson at NOFAS, donaldson@nofas.org to RSVP for the breakfast and for more details on the upcoming benefit.
Support the Annual Leadership Awards Benefit on June 7
Former Senator Tom Daschle, Linda Daschle and Senator Lisa Murkowski headline the Wednesday evening, June 7, benefit reception on Capitol Hill. Senator John McCain, Chris Dodd, Thad Cochran and Byron Dorgan, Representative Deborah Pryce and Surgeon General Richard Carmona, MD are among this year’s invited honorees, along with pioneering FASD researcher Sterling Clarren, MD and advocate Cheri Scott. This is the most important fundraising and media event of the year for NOFAS.
You can become an important part of our mission by serving as a member of the Benefit Steering Committee and pledging to raise money for the event. Support from individuals, corporations and foundations is vital for NOFAS to effectively combat the country’s leading known preventable cause of mental retardation and birth defects. Steering Committee members our listed on the benefit invitation and program, help introduce the honorees and special guests and receive special recognition for their support. Tax-deductible sponsorships range from $25,000 corporate Trustees to $100 for individual tickets. Steering Committee members are each asked to contribute and/or raise money $5,000 fundraising goal.
Contact Tom Donaldson, donaldson@nofas.org, to serve on the committee and make your pledge to NOFAS. Thank you for your support!
Join NOFAS for the Third Annual Hill Day on June 7-8
Please take advantage of this special opportunity to help shape policy and laws in the making! NOFAS will arrange meetings between you and your elected representatives in both the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday and Thursday, June 7 - 8, 2006. The purpose of these visits is to communicate your story and your expertise to Congress to urge greater attention and investment to prevent FASD and meet the needs of families living with the disorder. Prior to traveling to Washington, participants will receive a customized itinerary, special training on key messages and tips for effective meetings, and tailored information packets to provide to congressional offices.
Last year, NOFAS Hill Day was attended by more than 50 advocates from across the country. During our meetings with congressional staffers several relationships were strengthened and membership on the Congressional Caucus on FASD increased. This was a result of effective advocacy from our affiliates and constituents. This year, you can make a difference as well. Please participate in the Third Annual FASD Hill Day and make your voice heard in Congress.
To register for Hill Day, please contact Nav Dayanand with your name, email address and postal zip code. He can be reached through phone at: (202) 785-4585, fax (202) 466-6456 or email at dayanand@nofas.org. Please include how many friends/family members will be attending and their names. Make sure to contact us soon so we can arrange your meetings with the appropriate Senator and/or Representative!
NOFAS’ Middle School and High School Curriculum Hits the Streets of New York
A meeting between Susan Rose of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Support Network of New York City and Long Island (FASSN Inc.) and NOFAS board members Patti Munter and Dr. Michael Wolf sparked Susan’s enthusiasm to persuade New York City schools to incorporate NOFAS’ FASD education and prevention curriculum into the District’s schools.
Last week, Susan was able to meet with Michael Blum, Director of Substance Abuse, of the District 3 Youth and Family Support Services of the NYC Department of Education. The meeting concluded with District 3, one of the 5 districts of New York City's Department of Education, voting unanimously in favor of piloting NOFAS' teacher-based curriculum to the middle school and high school students. NOFAS is hoping that the other districts will jump on board after District 3 completes the pilot. This would mean that every middle school and high school student in New York City will be exposed to an FASD education and prevention curriculum.
The middle school curriculum is designed to raise awareness about FASD with an emphasis on the risks of alcohol use, particularly during pregnancy. Students learn about the physical effects that alcohol has on the brain through the use of a brain model that NOFAS has developed. The model, rendered in 3-D, consists of an “affected” brain and an “unaffected” brain. It clearly illustrates the regions of the brain—the Corpus Callosum and Cerebellum— that are most susceptible to prenatal alcohol exposure.
The high school curriculum consists of a two part lesson that is designed to raise awareness about FASD. Through the viewing of a Law & Order: SVU episode, students will be prompted to discuss the legal and ethical issues involved with drinking during pregnancy. Students will then analyze the internal and external influences that affect the characters’ choices.
NOFAS is extremely excited by this opportunity and wishes to offer a sincere thanks to Susan Rose and NOFAS board members Patti Munter and Dr. Michael Wolf for their dedication to NOFAS’ mission.
REACH Program Continues Success
NOFAS would like to call attention to the incredible work of the REACH project, a peer health education program for youth ages 11-15 years. REACH stands for Reducing FASD through Education, Advocacy, and Community Health.
The goal of REACH is to raise awareness about FAS and FASD among Native American youth by their peers. Currently, The Navajo Nation, The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA) of the Northwest, are all part of a 2 year NOFAS sponsored grant which has been made possible by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. Very exciting things continue to develop for all the sites involved in the project and NOFAS would like to take a moment to highlight some of the fantastic work being carried out by the youth.
Our fist stop is with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians where the youth developed a t-shirt to use as an incentive to youth for participation in question and answer sessions during training presentations. Last summer the youth developed a public service announcement (PSA) concerning the dangers of drinking before and during pregnancy. The PSA has since continued to air 3 days / month on the local TV channel 5 where it reaches approximately 3000 subscribers.
 
T-shirt developed by Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
Making our way out west to the Navajo Nation is where one might hear the REACH youth on the official radio station of the Navajo Nation, AM 660 KTNN. The youth use this opportunity to educate listeners about the risks of mixing alcohol and pregnancy.
Our last highlight is with Native American Rehabilitation Association in Portland, Oregon. The youth there have been busy making their appearances at a variety of Chamowa Indian Health Fairs. The youth have also carried their message about FASD to several of the Bureau of Indian Affairs run boarding schools.
To honor the REACH youth, NOFAS has invited all 3 sites to participate in this year’s Hill Day and Annual Awards Benefit in June. NOFAS would like to congratulate all each site on an incredible job in carrying the FASD prevention message! If you are interested in learning more about the youth peer education model, please contact Kelly Raiser at raiser@nofas.org
NOFAS March Events
NOFAS staff conducted presentations both in our local area and across the country during the month of March.
On March 2, Kathy Mitchell conducted a satellite conference and live webcast on "Preventing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders(FASD)" for the Alabama Public Health Training Network. This program provided a comprehensive overview of FASD, the progression of alcoholism, biological and social considerations when treating women with addictive disorders, and techniques that are useful in assessing, intervening, and engaging women into recovery. The webcast can be viewed online at:
http://www.adph.org/ALPHTN/default.asp?TemplateNbr=3&DeptID=143&TemplateId=4198
On March 13-14, Kathy Mitchell presented both the key note and a workshop session at the Rapid City FAS conference sponsored by the Black Hills State University in South Dakota. The workshop's theme was "Creating a Circle of Hope: Moving from Victim to Warrior Mom" and focused on engaging women into recovery, their unique needs in treatment, and working with birth mother's of children with FASD.
On March 14, NOFAS submitted comments to the Surgeon General for the forthcoming "Call to Action on Preventing Underage Drinking." On November 1, 2005 Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., MPH, F.A.C.S. announced his intent to issue a Call to Action on Preventing Underage Drinking. Individuals and organizations were given the opportunity to identify issues and areas of need for consideration in the development of the Call to Action. NOFAS felt strongly that drinking during pregnancy must be addressed in this publication. Read NOFAS' Response
On March 30th, NOFAS began another year of conducting an elective class on FASD for medical students at Georgetown University. The curricula, developed by NOFAS, is designed to introduce FAS and FASD to medical students as a component of their medical training. The course addresses the scientific etiology of alcohol exposure during pregnancy on the developing brain as well as the personal, familial and psychosocial factors that impact those affected by FASD.
Kathy Mitchell conducted a workshop on FASD for the addiction treatment community at Crossroads Addiction Treatment Center in Virginia to Staff and 65 clients.
The Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network’s 5th Annual Nursing Student Conference
FASD was the theme for the Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network’s (MVPN) 5th Annual Nursing Student Conference held in Utica, NY. NOFAS' Kathy Mitchell presented, “Preventing and Identifying Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” at this event.
Nursing instructors from local schools were invited to attend planning meetings and to help establish the theme of the conference. FASD was identified as a potential topic. Some members of the planning committee had seen Kathy’s FASD presentation at a previous MVPN event—Topics in Perinatal Health Conference and had been very impressed with her dynamic and highly personal presentation. With this in mind, they selected FASD and invited Kathy to present.
Ms. Mitchell discussed the effects of alcohol on fetal development, the diagnostic criteria for determining Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, techniques on screening for alcohol use, and intervening with substance abusing women. She also stressed that one of the reasons FASD is so difficult to diagnose is that many of the children exposed to maternal alcohol use during pregnancy don’t exhibit the facial anomalies characteristic of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
The MVPN’s Nursing Student Conference is a remarkable model of collaboration and dissemination of valuable perinatal information to not only future professionals in the Mohawk Valley but also to potential parents—women and men of childbearing age.
Six area schools were represented including: Mohawk Valley Community College, Herkimer County Community College, SUNY IT, Herkimer BOCES, St. Elizabeth College of Nursing, and Utica College.
Margo Singer, FASD Project Director for the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, also attended the conference and gave an overview of New York substance abuse programs making the point that their are beds available for pregnant women in New York.
The event was cosponsored by the Mohawk Valley Council on Alcoholism and Addictions and Insight House Chemical Dependencies Services with support from the Herkimer County HealthNet and March of Dimes. To learn more about the Mohawk Valley Perinatal Network go to: http://www.newfamily.org/index.html
NOFAS Washington Needs You
NOFAS Washington State is looking for volunteers to assist with a number of community activities this year. NOFAS Washington is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that works to prevent FASD and better the lives of individuals living with this condition. A list of upcoming NOFAS Washington events is as follows:
- August 23-27: Five day FASD Family Summer Camp
- September 9: FASD Awareness Day at Capitol grounds in Olympia
- October 5-6: 2006 NW Regional FASD Conference in Lynwood, WA
For more information contact Julie Gelo at 206-940-2832 or JULIEGELO@aol.com
The Women’s Health Behavior Project at St. Louis University is Seeking Participants for Research Project
This CDC Funded project is seeking women in the St. Louis metro area to participate in a self-guided behavior modification project that will help them to identify, and decrease, their risks of having an alcohol exposed pregnancy.
To be eligible, a woman must be between the ages of 18 and 44, be sexually active, be able to become pregnant, not be participating in any formal treatment for alcohol use, not have participated in more than two self-help group meetings for alcohol use, and be able to speak or read English.
Participants will self-administer a series of 5 modules which can be completed on a website or through the mail. The entire process will take approximately 4 months. If you are interested in participating, please visit http://www.safedrinking.org or call 1-800-515-8630.
NOFAS Remembers Dr. Paul Lemoine
Dr. Paul Lemoine, one of the earliest researchers on the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure died last month. He was from Nantes France.
In 1968, Dr Lemoine published a paper in a French medical journal documenting the physical and mental characteristics of children whose mothers drank during pregnancy. In 2003 Dr. Lemoine described his early observations and research with children prenatally exposed to alcohol in a paper submitted to the Journal of FAS International. You can read this paper online at:
http://www.motherisk.org/JFAS_documents/History_Alcoholic_Fetopathies.pdf
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