Free talks to cover
prenatal alcohol
exposure
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a developmental disability caused by prenatal alcohol exposure, will be addressed at two free meetings today and tomorrow at the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio Hotel.
An Intervention Touchpoints Seminar will be held today featuring national authorities on fetal alcohol disorder.
A town hall meeting is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Radisson for policy-makers, administrators and people affected by the disability.
They are invited to present their experiences, needs and concerns.
Receiving the testimony will be a panel of representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, the National Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder Center for Excellence Steering Committee and Hawaii policy-makers and agency directors.
The FAS Family Resource Institute in Lynnwood, Wash., the CDC and state Department of Health's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division are co-sponsoring the two-day event.
About 250 military and state representatives and family members are expected to participate.
Testimony at town hall meetings elsewhere in the past two years revealed that "even today, there remains a tremendous need for better, more comprehensive and accurate information among all types of health, education and social service representatives," said Josie DeVries, of the FAS Family Resource Institute.
No amount of alcohol is considered safe for a pregnant woman to drink because it can damage the child's brain.
