Recognise FASD as a brain injury

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is still referred to as a behavioural issue in policy, even after twenty years of international research and subsequent successful treatment models in places like Canada that has proven otherwise.    

People living with FASD and their whanau struggle to get the adequate support they need - support that can transform their lives and enable them to live a full life.

Paired with prevention strategies, better treatment would be transformative for NZ.  People most at risk of FASD are also most likely to be in state/foster care and are also over represented in prison populations.

FASD is a symptom of intergenerational trauma and the effects of colonisation. We have a duty as a country to address it.  Alcohol was used a tool of colonisation, introduced by sealers/whalers and later colonial settlers into a country that had never experienced it before.