FASD Communities - Building Productive Lives

L-R: Optimist Member Doreen Hlavaty; Monica Mueller, FASD Community Resident; Epiphany Garner, CNA; Angie Coffman, FASD Community Resident

Epiphany Garner, CNA, spoke to our club about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), which are lifelong physical, developmental, behavioral and intellectual disabilities caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol and drugs. It can impact as many as 1 in 20 children in the U.S., more than twice the rate of autism, according to the CDC. The majority of those affected show few, if any, outward signs of disability. They are typically mental disabilities. Epiphany has worked in health care for 8 years and said she became obsessed with working with the FASD Community Group Home in rural Platteville where four young women reside once she met them. She said you "meet them where they're at" and you allow them to learn in their own environment, at their own pace, and in their own way. Monica and Angie, FASD Community members, were both adopted at a young age. They each shared their personal struggles in school and in the community as they were growing up. Having FASD is not easy but they want people to be informed of their disorders in the hopes they will help them feel normal. These young ladies do household chores, garden work, package products for sale at the Farmer's Market, volunteer, take on jobs, and do other various activities but they need guidance, which is Epiphany's job.