READERS GALLEYS AVAILABLE

The Whitest Wall by Jodee Kulp will be released to the public in celebration of the 10th FASD Awareness Day - September 9, 2008.

Better Endings is accepting pre-publication reviews.

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL ADVOCACY
ON FETAL ALCOHOL SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Libraries and community organizations will benefit from Better Endings New Beginnings new FREE downloadble window displays and handouts to celebrate International Fetal Alcohol Month in September. Packages include window display pieces, fact sheets and books at wholesale for fundraising at the community/grassroots level.
Downloads available July 31, 2008.

http://www.fasworld.org/

FASworld is an international alliance of parents and professionals who do not want to see any more children, teenagers and adults struggle with birth defects caused when their mothers drank alcohol in pregnancy. Co-founded by volunteers in Toronto, Canada, and Tucson, Arizona, it has resulted in the creation of the Canadian organization, FASworld Canada, which continues to work with the FAS Community Resource Center in Tucson to coordinate work in worldwide awareness.

About Fetal Alcohol

Individuals struggling with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders may be diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) -- formerly known as Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) -- Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD), Alcohol-Related Birth Injury (ARBI) or Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (pFAS). (In New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world, these conditions are spelled, "Foetal Alcohol Syndrome," etc.).

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can occur in an individual whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. These effects may include physical, mental, behavioral and/or learning disabilities with possible lifelong implications. The term FASD is not intended for use as a clinical diagnosis.

Psychologists and psychiatrists often assess individuals with FAS disorders as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder or Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD) -- but are often unaware that the real problem is permanent neurological damage caused by prenatal alcohol.

People with prenatal alcohol exposure have a high risk of mental disabilities, learning disabilities, early school drop-out, juvenile delinquency, trouble with the law, alcoholism, drug addiction, unemployment, homelessness, poverty, incarceration, and mental illness. As many as half of all adults with some form of FASD have depression and a significant percentage of those have attempted suicide. With early diagnosis and treatment, many of these "secondary disabilities" could be prevented.