For Parents & Carers
You Are Not Alone
Understanding your child's FASD brain helps you advocate, adapt, and build on their strengths every day.
Understanding Your Child
The FASD Brain
Children with FASD have a neurological difference, not a behavioural choice. Their brains process information differently. Behaviours that look like defiance are often genuine neurological challenges with memory, impulse control, and cause-and-effect thinking.
Key Mindset Shift
"Can't, not won't." Many FASD behaviours reflect neurological inability, not deliberate non-compliance. Consequences-based discipline alone rarely works.
Family Toolkit
Personalised Support Plan
Answer simple questions about your child and create a plan to edit, download as PDF or Word, and share with school.
Create a plan →
Create a plan →
Meltdowns and Big Feelings
Help for before, during and after emotional overload, with calming scripts, a printable regulation plan and a private pattern tracker.
Open the toolkit →
Open the toolkit →
School Advocacy Toolkit
A pupil profile, teacher sheet, adjustments checklist, SENCO meeting guide and EHCP guidance.
Get the downloads →
Get the downloads →
Everyday Challenges Library
Fifteen topics, from memory and sleep to school attendance and independence, each with things to try, when to get more help and a printable picture resource.
Find ideas →
Find ideas →
Visual Routine Builder
Make a picture routine for mornings, after school, homework, bedtime, appointments or changing activity, then print it.
Build a routine →
Build a routine →
Support at Every Age
What to think about from the early years through school, the teenage years and adulthood.
Choose an age →
Choose an age →
Adoptive, Foster and Kinship Families
Trauma or FASD, records to ask for, funding, school support and helplines for families caring for children who have been in care.
Read the guide →
Read the guide →
Template Letters
Ready-to-edit letters for your GP, paediatrician, school, council and NHS, to ask for referrals, assessments and support.
Get the letters →
Get the letters →
Your FASD Journey Tracker
Each step from first concern to a management plan, with what to ask and what you should leave with. Tick off steps as you go.
Track your journey →
Track your journey →
Strategies for Home
📚 Streissguth & Kanter (1997); Blackburn et al. (2010); FASD Network Guidelines
1
Create Predictable Routines
Use consistent daily schedules with visual timetables. Give warnings before transitions: "5 more minutes, then bath time."
2
Use Visual Supports
Pair verbal instructions with pictures or written steps. A picture checklist for the morning routine reduces cognitive load significantly.
3
Keep Instructions Simple
Give one instruction at a time. Use short, concrete language. Ask your child to repeat back what they heard.
4
Regulation Before Reasoning
When dysregulated, their thinking brain is offline. Help them calm first before reasoning or discussing consequences.
5
Celebrate Strengths
Many children with FASD are highly creative, caring, and artistic. Build on what they can do.
6
Seek Your Own Support
Caring for a child with FASD is demanding. Connect with FASD support groups and ensure your own wellbeing is supported.
If You Are Concerned: What to Do
📚 Based on SIGN 156 Section 2.1.4 (Referral) and NICE QS204 Statement 3
Getting ready for the GP
Two free printable tools to take with you:
• Before You See the GP: a checklist of the evidence and notes to gather
• FASD Referral: A Guide for GPs: a one-page guide you can hand to your GP, explaining when and where to refer
• Your FASD Journey Tracker: every step from first concern to a management plan
• Before You See the GP: a checklist of the evidence and notes to gather
• FASD Referral: A Guide for GPs: a one-page guide you can hand to your GP, explaining when and where to refer
• Your FASD Journey Tracker: every step from first concern to a management plan
Waiting, or no service nearby?
• While You Wait: support you can ask for now, without a diagnosis
• No FASD Service Near You?: the routes to an assessment if your area has no FASD pathway
• No FASD Service Near You?: the routes to an assessment if your area has no FASD pathway
1
Talk to Your GP or Health Visitor First
Share your concerns clearly. Mention any known or suspected prenatal alcohol exposure, developmental delays, or behavioural challenges that worry you. You don't need a confirmed history of alcohol use in pregnancy to ask for an assessment. Probable or suspected PAE with significant difficulties is enough to trigger a referral (NICE QS204 Statement 3).
2
Ask for a Referral to a Paediatrician
Your GP should refer your child to a community paediatrician or neurodevelopmental service. SIGN 156 is clear: referral should be made sensitively when there is evidence of significant physical, developmental or behavioural concerns and probable PAE. You should not have to prove the alcohol exposure before being referred.
3
Request an FASD-Informed Assessment
Ask specifically that prenatal alcohol exposure is considered as a possible cause of your child's difficulties. SIGN 156 notes that PAE is frequently not considered, particularly in children already labelled with ADHD or ASD. A full FASD assessment involves a multidisciplinary team (paediatrician, psychologist, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist).
4
Don't Wait for a Diagnosis to Ask for Support
NICE QS204 is explicit: support should not wait for a formal diagnosis. While waiting for assessment, ask the school to put interim strategies in place, request an Early Help Assessment, or contact your local FASD support group for peer support and practical guidance.
5
After Diagnosis: Your Child's Management Plan
NICE QS204 Statement 5 says children and young people with a diagnosis of FASD have a management plan to address their needs. This should be developed with you and cover: therapy needs, school support, community resources, and regular review. Ask your paediatrician to share it with the school, health visitor, and any other professionals involved in your child's care.
Who Else Can Help?
• National FASD helpline 0208 458 5951 and free resources: nationalfasd.org.uk
• FASD Scotland: fasdscotland.com
• Your child's school: ask for a SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) referral
• Social care and Early Help services if support at home is needed
• FASD Scotland: fasdscotland.com
• Your child's school: ask for a SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) referral
• Social care and Early Help services if support at home is needed
Support from National FASD
🤝 National FASD is a UK organisation for people with FASD, their families and professionals. Its resources are free.
National FASD Helpline: 0208 458 5951
General information and advice on next steps. If no one answers, leave a message or email info@nationalfasd.org.uk. This is not a crisis line and cannot refer you to local services. For urgent medical help call NHS 111, or 999 in an emergency.
Getting a diagnosis
What evidence you may be asked for, how assessment works and which areas are assessed. Read the diagnosis guide. SIGN also has free leaflets for families: Information on FASD assessment and Support after diagnosis.
Everyday life and your rights
Every kind of family
See our guide for adoptive, foster and kinship families. Information for adoptive families, foster carers, kinship carers and special guardians and birth mothers.
Looking for other families? The FASD UK Alliance links local support groups across the UK. Find local support.
Looking for other families? The FASD UK Alliance links local support groups across the UK. Find local support.