CDIS 402: Disability Portfolio

Cognitive
Disability
profile:
FAS
(Fetal
Alcohol
Syndrom
e)

Low IQ,
attention &
memory,
slower
expressive
skills.

Impact
on oral
and
written
language
develop
ment:

Difficulty
getting words
down on
paper in a
structured
and organized
way.

Successes and Challenges to Language DevelopmentFall 2015

Communicatio
n
Linguistic
Memory
deficits;
expressive and
receptive
difficulties,
problems with
articulation and
some
phonemes,
difficulties in
cooperating in
conversation.
Has limited
vocabulary;
expressive and
receptive
difficulties;
difficulty
getting words
down on paper
in a structured
and organized
way.

Social/
Emotional

Physical

Decreased
social skills;
two to three
years younger
in social realm.

Smaller head,
hearing loss,
facial
deformities,
shorter than
normal height,
and lower
body weight.

Deformed or
malfunctioning ears;
visual difficulties

May say
irrelevant or
non-important
things during
conversation;
may be
avoided by
peers due to
lack of
intractability.

Areas around
the mouth that
may be
abnormal
could affect
speech
production
specifically
phonology and
articulation.

Hearing loss

Factors within the student related to functioning

My big ideas from the readings:

Sensory

CDIS 402: Disability Portfolio

Successes and Challenges to Language DevelopmentFall 2015

The article broke down FAS into different areas and specified which areas may be impacted more than
others. Children who have FAS mainly have difficulties with language, motor, learning, and visuospatial
functioning. FAS is a developmental difficulty that is completely preventable.
My big ideas from the group presentation:
The group presentation told me more about the various symptoms involving FAS, specifically in the five areas of language that we
focus on. Overall, difficulties with expressive and receptive vocabulary, decreased social skills, low IQs, poor memory, poor attention,
and hearing loss were big issues relating to our field.

Reflection (What does this mean for my practice?):

I should always be looking for symptoms of FAS in students. Having a good understanding of the difficulties children with FAS go
through will help me to create lesson plans that incorporate activities that children with FAS will be able to do.