fasd_teen
Adoption and Family

My Daughter Has FASD – My CBC Parents Post

My youngest daughter has FASD. I have occasionally written a bit about that here, but I am adding a bit more content about this invisible disability and publishing in major national outlets to grow awareness.

My CBC Parents Content

Over the last two years I have been writing a lot of consistent content on CBC Parents. I am happy to be able to reach a wider audience and frankly freelance, of course, is where I began years ago when I started writing. A few of my posts have centred on our journey parenting kids with special needs, or mental health issues and disabilities.

For whatever reason, that content resonates with readers over there. After years of pitching the topic of FASD, finally someone showed interest and published a story about what it is really like when you parent a child with FASD. So, I am grateful to CBC for recognizing that this is a topic that matters.

Recent FASD Content

Since that piece ran, I have had dozens of messages and emails from other parents. I am grateful for their support and I’ve always got an ear or a shoulder if you need to talk. I did a Podcast with Jeff Noble as well on FASD Success. You can listen here….My Daughter Has FASD – Paula Schuck podcast.

In the meantime, also I just wanted to update you all on a couple of my posts from this year, in the event that you haven’t read them there.

An Excerpt

My daughter has FASD and Here’s What That’s Like… (for the full story click through to CBC Parents.)

My youngest daughter has FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). It’s a whole-body developmental disability sustained as a result of prenatal exposure to alcohol.

For years since we adopted her, we’ve been her translators.

Get in the Helicopter With Me

Parents of kids with special needs are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Here’s why I don’t care what you label me.

If you like that one, you might also get something from I’m a Helicopter Parent and I Don’t See How I Could Be Anything Else Right Now.

Parenting a Child with FASD

Here’s What That’s Like and How we Parent to Meet Her Needs, Mostly….believe me I have not got all the answers. I have a few tricks and tips that work. Parenting a child with a brain injury is exhausting and so is living with it. My daughter has also written about living with FASD here previously. Check out this post if you want more details: I am Not Invisible

Pandemic Parenting

I have also been sharing pandemic parenting content and what life this year looks like with teenagers. So, please take a moment to check that content out. As always, I hope it helps. I hope something in what I say or write or do over there or over here on my site generates an aha moment or even a second that makes you feel that you are not alone.

This job is hard. Parenting teens during a pandemic is straight up awful some days. Tonight I walked out the front door just needing space and quiet and a moment to breathe. Teens right now are rude and moody and pissed off at the world and I don’t blame them for a moment. But, even so it’s hard to deal with all of that when you have your own worries and stresses about the Covid-19 numbers.

You are Not Alone

Now add the layer of disability and additional mental health stress on top of all of that and you get my pandemic life. Oh, I know some of you know exactly what I mean. You are not alone.

Mom of two beautiful active girls, traveller, fitness junkie, social media consultant, and keeper of the sanity.