lcohol by a pregnant woman, however, exacerbates the problem for the child once born.
The prevalence of drinking is highest for both females in the 21-34 age range, which is the prime child-bearing age range (American Psychiatric Association, p. 173). Alcohol consumption among Native American women in this age range is disproportionately high (Burd & Moffatt, pp. 68-693). The prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome among native American populations also is disproportionately high.
Persistency of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Effects
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a widely accepted diagnosis in the contemporary period (Dedam, McFarlane, & Hennessy, 1993, pp. 29-31). Significantly, substantial prenatal alcohol consumption can occur before a woman realizes that she is pregnant, and the teratogenic risk increases is a woman continues to consume alcohol during her pregnancy (Frequent consumption, 1994, pp. 328-329).
The estimate is that thousands of infants are born each year with fetal alcohol syndrome (Smitherman, pp. 121-126). The disability effects of fetal alcohol syndrome may persist through adulthood. These effects may appear at birth, or they may appear later in the development of the person (Smith & Eckhardt, 1991, pp. 151-164).
Psychological Disabilities Associated
Fetal alcohol syndrome describes a set of physical and neurologic effects that occur in infants and children as a result of m
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