Jennifer Laba

Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Introduction

http://www.fasdoutreach.ca/
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a completely preventable disability and
varies in severity; it is caused by a mother consuming alcohol while carrying a child.
Teachers need to take care to learn about this disability because it not only affects the
academics of the student, it also affects the social aspects of the childs life. Examples of
learning struggles may include and are not limited to: memory loss of taught subjects,
non-consistent learning patterns, challenges with information gathering and delivery of
tasks; examples of social struggles may include and are not limited to: low interaction
with peers, inappropriate interaction with peers, lack of regard for consequences. With
regard to these brief examples, it is important for teachers to learn about this
exceptionality, make modifications when teaching, and work with the child to assist
him/her achieve the best possible outcome for learning and social settings.

Website Description:
The home page of Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is
laid out neatly with a blue strip across the top of the page that includes POPFASDs logo
in the top left corner. The blue strip makes five white pull down tabs across the top stand
out nicely. Under the pull down tabs there are five fading images which can be clicked on
and lead to more reading resources, downloadable resources, partners, news,
and eLearning videos. Below the fading images, four New Resources can be clicked

on. Under that section, FASD News can be accessed. There are vertical links on the
right-hand side of the page, three large light blue links lead to information on courses
offered. Below those tabs are a list of eLearning Videos links and links to Recent
News stories.
Across the top, after the Home link, FASD News, can be accessed. By clicking this
link, the user is brought to page one of fifty pages of news reports, PSAs, online
resources, etc., all related to FASD. A useful tool for teachers in the News section is,
POPFASD Announces New Teacher App - CORA. CORA (Classroom Observation
and Recording App) is an app that can be downloaded to a smartphone, iPad, or other
smart device and allows teachers to track students progress by recording notes,
comments reflections, etc..
Following News is eLearning Videos. When the user places their mouse over this tab,
a pull down screen displays eight topics, the first of which simply defines what an
eLearning video is. The remaining seven topics, Learning About FASD, Planning
Instruction, Creating a Positive Behaviour Climate, Teaching to Strengths and
Needs, Developing the IEP, Transitioning, and Assessment Networks all display
numerous videos pertaining to students with FASD in the classroom. A number of these
videos include children with FASD; children explain how they feel and what they
experience. For example, under the topic Teaching to Strengths and Needs, there is a
video titled, Attention Difficulties, in which a child explains how he feels at certain
times and how his teacher accommodates such difficulties, such as providing a quiet
space; giving simple, brief instruction; giving breaks/doing a job for the teacher; and/or
providing a picture schedule. In total, there are forty-four eLearning videos.
Next to eLearning Videos is Teacher Resources. There are nine options to choose
from in the drop-down menu under this section. Of the nine Teacher Resources, the

most useful to teachers include, Essential Tips, Print Resources, Links to Related
Websites, Prevention Resources, and Downloads.
o Essential Tips provide ten essential tips/topics for teachers and numerous
strategies/suggestions under each topic.
o Print Resources provide six links, all of which lead to numerous print copies of
books, some downloadable. Three of the six links are directly designated to
educators teaching students with FASD, one is a resource giving general
information about FASD.
o Links to Related Websites offers numerous links all pertaining to FASD, such
as support, information, research, further reading, educational resources, etc..
o Prevention Resources is an excellent tool for secondary teachers. When a user
clicks on this link, they are brought to Prevention Resources for High School
Teachers. This section gives three links for teachers, Teach our Online FASD
Prevention Unit, which has a link the user clicks to send POPFASD an email to
request the information; Present our FASD Prevention Lesson, which has a link
to click to request a power point presentation; and Explore FASD Prevention
Resources, which gives a list of books all referring to FASD.
o Downloads provide a number of documents available for download. Of the
numerous documents, I found the IEIC Planning Tool, (5 documents), to be of
most value. This document allows the teacher to gather information on the student
and also provides definitions and descriptions of students. An example of one of
the documents describes, Chronological age appropriate expectations, versus
Developmental age appropriate expectations. This was very interesting because
it defines how an average 5 year old behaves, to that of a 5 year old with a
developmental age of 3. The ages and examples go up from there.

The vertical links down the right-hand side of the page, eLearning Videos and Recent
News, are repetitious of what is included in the links at the top of the page.
The author of this site is the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (POPFASD). When a user scrolls over the About Us tab, Our Team is
displayed. This shows a picture and describes the education, as well as experience of six
team members; all who have attended post-secondary education and hold a reputable
background in education, including Special Education. This site is user friendly, I had no
troubles getting any of the videos to work, and all the videos had very useful information
on them. I was happy to see many of the links, books, websites, and videos were updated
by date. I was worried about some of the videos in the eLearning section, as some date
back as late as 2006, however, the information in these videos are still relevant; Module
4: Paradigm Shift, under Learning About FASD is an example of this. This website is
of great value and will make a useful addition to a teachers resources because it gives a
wide variety of information to teachers in a wide variety of formats. The assortments of
resources, from books, downloadable books, websites, e-Videos, tips, etc. allow a teacher
to gain a wealth of knowledge. It is also useful because the website and print links
provide information which may be given by a teacher to assist a caregiver of a child with
FASD who may request more information on how to support the child at home, as the
links in these sections not only pertain to educators, they also include parents. The best
aspects of this site are the eLearning Videos; there are a number of them and they cover a
number of topics all related to FASD. I like how they can be applied to the classroom. I
think it is also beneficial to teachers that they included the voice of students who struggle
in school because of FASD. I am also interested in learning more about the CORA app to
track all student progress.

Some weaknesses of the site would be some of the dated materials; the dates in
resources range from 2006-2014. Another weakness would be the repetitiveness of some
of the links. I did find the home page overwhelming because there were too many links to
click on in the who are we; all of the blue underlined links in that section are also
available in the tabs along the top of the page so I felt they did not need to be included in
the who are we section. I wish the website included some example lesson
plans/modifications.
Summary and Conclusion:

Overall, I think this is a neat, well organized website with a wealth of information in
many different forms. The information provided for teachers is valuable and can

assist tremendously in the classroom; I would recommend this site to teachers.

I would rate this website as 3 out of 4 stars.