Our CEO Tristan was thrilled to be invited to speak at the Mid West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum event 'Let's talk about FASD - Starting a conversation from a National and International perspective', held at the Greenhills Hotel in Limerick.

Tristan gave a brief introduction to FASD including common symptoms and challenges, three key priorities that need addressing urgently and require little more than Ministerial approval for changes to be made (Long Term Illness Card; Awareness of FASD in Education; Justice system) and what the future looks like for FASD Ireland, our plans and how they might be funded going forward.

Eleanor Keogh from the HSE Integrated Alcohol Service then spoke about the services that are being provided and gave an insight into the numbers/types of clients the service is helping.

Dr. Denise Hatzis Clinical Psychologist talked about the work that she is doing with Griffith University and establishing a FASD Diagnostic Clinic in Queensland, Australia. A plenary session followed where attendees were asked to consider the symptoms they might observe in a child living with FASD.

Bernie O'Grady from Cooolmine talked about Parenting under Pressure (PUP) and how the framework that has been developed may help parents and carers of children living with FASD.

The event concluded with the panel receiving a number of questions from attendees relating to the earlier presentations. It was lovely to see so much interest from across Tipperary, Limerick and Clare. We even had someone from Mayo attend!

Events like this really do help us to raise awareness of FASD and we look forward to the next time!

#FASDIrl #FASDAwareness #LetsGetIrelandTalkingAboutFASD