Archived Forums

Oh dear, that's depressing, I was wondering about that one myself. NOFAS UK do a CPD accredited online course too, at a minimal cost (you only pay to get the certificate, if you want it, and i think it's about £20) . I haven't done it myself but I've thought about it. To be honest I was a bit put off by the thought of where I would find time to do all seven modules! So it should be a bit more in depth than a 45-mins tops version. The link is here if you're interested: http://www.nofas-uk.org/OnlineCourse/USING/using_the_course_frame.php.htm

I’ve just looked at the NOFAS course and it is much much better. It is a serious course. I am very disappointed in AUK.

Hi Daffin, We’re really sorry to hear that you weren’t happy with the new online FASD course that we’ve developed with our new training partner, AC Education. Thank you for bringing this to our attention as we and AC Education both want to ensure that these new courses provide the most effective and accessible online learning opportunities for all adoptive families. The CPD accredited course that NOFAS-UK has created does look great. Our AC Education course was also written by a trainer who works for NOFAS-UK but differs in that it’s designed as more of a shorter introduction to FASD for families and carers, and does not provide professionals with accredited CPD recognition. However, if our course needs improving, we and AC Education will work to get this done asap! We really value your feedback and would be interested to hear your ideas on how we could improve our course. We’ll also take a closer look at the NOFAS-UK course too, for comparison. I will PM you, Daffin, so that we can talk about this is more detail if you would be happy to help us in this way. We look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes, Holly Busby Membership Manager

Thank you, Holly. I will look at your PM and respond there, but something I want to put on the public boards is that I thunk course designers should beware of patronising parents with insubstantial course materials. We want in-depth knowledge on our children’s conditions and clear and well evidenced advice on how best to help them. Many of us have read numerous books and attended many courses and the level that courses are pitched st should reflect that. On the AUK and AC Education websites, the promotional material should provide more details on the content of the course - to avoid disappointment.

Good to see AUK/Holly responding in such a positive way. One thought - maybe there is a need for two courses? One at an introductory level for say prospective adopters and a more in depth one for those of us trying to support adoptees who have additional needs.

Holly If the course didn’t meet Daffin’s needs or was deficient in any way, I hope she will be reimbursed.

You might want to look at future learn which offer an array of courses complied from a variety of universities. All are free and I have done loads over the last couple of years. You can pay for a certificate but my school accepts screen shots of my courses pages. I like them as you can connect to people from all over the world and can have some interesting discussions or conversation.

Thanks Ham, that’s a good idea.

One of the issues with a FASD is the quite small amount of research on the subject compared to say, Autism or ADHD. The parenting and coping side is catching up to the causality and symptomatic knowledge base more slowly. If you think about it, for a mother to admit she had caused brain damage to her child by drinking while pregnant is an enormous thing to ask. The adoption community can talk about this without the stigma and taboo attached to the issue but without the real knowledge of the level of drinking at the crucial times of preganacy. It is not surprising that many adopters have a a level of knowledge of coping with a child with FASD as professionals simply because we can admit to it, recognise the symptoms, seek a diagnosis without stigma and be open with healthcare professionals about the causes. Where it all falls down is the adoptive community is a small pool of parents from which to glean the best coping strategies. Since my son was diagnosed with FASD I have been on several courses, online and seminars. They all focus heavily on pre-diagnosis recognition of the disorder, symptoms and clinical issues and generally have little to offer on parenting. In reality parents need post diagnosis advice which is sorely lacking.

http://fasstar.com/PresentationOutlineScreamsDreams.pdf Found this today. Its one of the best succinct things I've seen. The mantra I've picked up from somewhere is 'strategies not solutions'.