Early interventionists can be the first to grasp the real hazards of prenatal alcohol exposure, referring for diagnosis, alerting caregivers to emerging learning and behavior problems, and connecting families with needed services (even alcohol treatment). Suggestive, early animal research indicates that early intervention has the potential to ameliorate at least some deficits found among those with FASD (e.g., Goodlett et al., 2005). But what kind of early intervention would help? In general, early intervention research suggests services are likely to be most successful when family support is provided along with high-quality direct intervention with young children that uses proven educational techniques. Supportive services from occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists also add to the possibility of intervention success. A “developmental systems model” has been suggested to help better understand how to create a system of effective early intervention services for children with FASD and their families (Carmichael Olson et al., in press).
One research group working within a child guidance center in Georgia, has created a program for children born prenatally alcohol-exposed. Described very briefly, this program first aims at learning readiness (through case management, behavior management training for parents, and more). Then young children are taught early math and handwriting skills using well-known, evidence-based early education curricula. Their parents are taught skills to support children’s learning in these areas at home. Initial findings are quite promising (Kable et al., 2006). Another research group, working within a child guidance center in Oklahoma, is applying well-known “parent management training” techniques to help improve relationships and enhance compliance with adult instructions among young children born prenatally alcohol-exposed (Gurwitch et al., 2003).
Related ideas for early intervention are emerging from research on infant mental health that (in part) focuses on improving parent-child attachment relationships, developmental expectations, and parenting strategies. Researchers have proposed that infant mental health techniques can help children living in families with parental polysubstance abuse—and have potential for children born alcohol-exposed (e.g., Carmichael Olson et al., 2001). For more information about early intervention, see Carmichael Olson et al., in press.
• Develop and provide systematic training on FASD for early intervention providers, including the full range of daycare providers, preschool special educators, therapists serving developmental centers, Headstart personnel, and more. Because early intervention occurs in many systems, training has to be a wide-ranging effort.
• Screen for prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD in early intervention settings so that children in need of intervention can be recognized and referred.
• Work toward regulations that allow early intervention to be provided for children who are “at-risk” because of prenatal alcohol exposure, in addition to the children who have received a clinical diagnosis.
• Promote collaboration between child welfare workers and early intervention providers in serving children exposed to substances before birth.