Adult Leadership Collaborative of FASD Changemakers: Forgotten or Ignored? FASD as the Adult Orphan of Disability – Does Anyone Care? May 12, 2026

FREE!

For more than four decades, adults living with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have been described as the “orphan child of disability,” a term originally used by a provincial court judge in British Columbia who repeatedly encountered individuals with FASD in the justice system without appropriate diagnosis, understanding, or support. Unfortunately, this description remains strikingly relevant today.

In this workshop, the FASD Changemakers Adult Leadership Cooperative (ALC) will explore the systemic and societal factors that have contributed to the ongoing marginalization of adults with FASD. Participants will examine how missed or delayed diagnosis, lack of informed support systems, and widespread misunderstanding of brain-based disabilities have left many adults with FASD overlooked by service systems designed to help them.

Through lived experience perspectives and critical discussion, the presenters will examine what has gone wrong over the past 40 years and why many adults with FASD continue to fall through the cracks in health care, social services, education, and the justice system. The session will challenge participants to reflect on the roles systems and professionals play in perpetuating or addressing these gaps.