Developing Inclusive Practice for Young Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: A Framework of Knowledge and Understanding for the Early Childhood Workforce

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) have emerged as a major phenomenon within the education and health care systems. Prenatal exposure to alcohol is known to result in a range of birth anomalies for infants and children. Children with FASD experience a range of developmental delays, which limit their participation and progress in a range of educational and social settings.

Written by one of the UK’s top experts in the field, this practical and informative resource explores the complex and compounding socio-cultural, historical and political factors surrounding maternal drug and alcohol use, and the implications this has for young children’s learning and development across the childhood workforce. The book provides a framework of knowledge and understanding as a tool to develop inclusive practice.

Developing Inclusive Practice for Young Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders is an essential read for all early childhood professionals and practitioners. It offers a range of pedagogical strategies to improve children’s long-term developmental trajectory, whilst supporting children and families in a sensitive, respectful manner.

Carolyn Blackburn is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Education and Social Work at Birmingham City University. She led two projects related to early childhood professional knowledge and the educational implications of FASD and has supported numerous children with FASD in mainstream and special education. Carolyn is a Board Member of the European Association on Early Childhood Intervention and a Winston Churchill Fellow on Early Years Intervention and Prevention.