Film screening of Moment to Moment: Teens Growing Up with FASDs

RSVP By March 22nd to pamela.weightman [at] mcgill.ca .

Growing up is never easy! Hitting the adolescent stage of life is challenging, even for those fortunate to have all the resources at hand to navigate this difficult developmental life stage. Adolescents living with the neurodisability of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) encounter multiple additional challenges in navigating this stage of life. Living with an FASD is a life-long challenge, but perhaps is most acute and challenging during the choppy waters of adolescence. Moment to Moment: Teens Growing Up with FASDs (screened under license) documents the lives of four teenagers living with an FASD.

All adolescents face challenges associated with reaching and maturing into young adulthood. The normal development of slowly developing independence, sexual identity, and career trajectories are complex tasks. Adolescents living with a brain impairment related to prenatal alcohol exposure (PNE) face significant difficulties in both executive functioning and adaptive behaviors. A substantive body of empirical literature documents the potential painful slide into the criminal justice system, school failure, homelessness and mental health illness when supports and services are not available. As the adolescent get older, mood disorder, anxiety and depression further exacerbates their ability to successfully navigate a successful path to independent adulthood. Building collaborative systems of care for this vulnerable population is a critical step in decreasing the societal burden of FASD and its personal and fiscal costs to families, and increasing the likelihood that those living with an FASD can lead productive and fulfilling lives.

Moment to Moment: Teens Growing up With FASDs offers a very personal, thought provoking and intimate eye-opening journey into the lives of four teenagers living with an FASD and their families. The movie accurately documents how these teens are failing in our social support system, which does not provide the knowledge, skills, and resources to guide young people living with an FASD. Narrated by Dr Ira Chasnoff, an international expert on the psychosocial aspects of living with an FASD, the movie is valuable learning tool for ALL involved in health & social services delivery.

The movie will followed by a 30 minute discussion period, facilitated by Liam Curran, INDI Ph.D. Candidate, currently researching the impact of FASDs on  child welfare and on social work practice. 

Munchies & drinks will be served.