Feedback from the recent awareness month for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder has been very positive, says Candice Sutterfileld with the Cold Lake-based Lakeland Centre for FASD.
September was officially Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Month, but Sutterfield says the disorder needs to be recognized every day of the year.
“We’re raising awareness every day…I think September’s just the month that we can really amp things up,” Sutterfield told Lakeland This Week.
Lakeland FASD offices and staff across the region participated in several community events over the awareness week. Sutterfield said the campaigns are vital if they want to educate more people about FASD.
Over the years, the Lakeland offices have offered unique events to help reduce the stigma of the disorder and also to educate the public. Their Mocktail Challenge was again held during the recent awareness campaign, and it was another success, said Sutterfield.
The mocktails were created and served up at the organization’s Lac La Biche office and helped to wash down a barbecue hot-dog lunch. The mocktails – alcohol-free beverages – were created by representatives from several local organizations.
While residents sampled the food and creative beverages, staff from the organization presented information about the disorder and the support network that is available across the Lakeland region and beyond. Sutterfield said the Lakeland FASD offices provide outreach service, prevention conversationalists, as well as a women’s Recovery Centre at their Cold Lake location.
The recovery centre is a nine-bed women’s addiction recovery facility. According to the organization, while not all of the women who need the services of the centre are pregnant, preference is given to those who either are pregnant, or are at risk of pregnancy.
She tells Lakeland This Week that throughout the month of September, the organization hosted FASD awareness events in other Lakeland communities, including BBQs and mocktail competitions in St. Paul and Cold Lake. Some of the Métis settlements and First Nations communities in the region, she added, also hosted events of their own.
Community events such as these, she continued, are helping in getting the message out to the public about the impacts of FASD and how it can be prevented.
“I think they’re quite effective and I think that you have an opportunity to talk one to one with somebody about the hard conversation of FASD,” she said.