July 6, 2022

Winnipeg
19° C, Partly cloudy

Full Forecast

Contact Us Subscribe Manage Subscription Chat with us
Log in Create Free Account Help Chat with us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • My Account
    • Manage my Subscription
    • Change Password

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
    • Log in
    • Create Free Account
    • Help

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
  • Coronavirus Coverage
  • Replica E-Edition
    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West
  • Above the Fold
  • Front page
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Book Club
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Canada
  • Local
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • World
  • Reader BridgeNEW
  • WFP EventsNEW
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
  • Archives
  • Free Press Community Review
    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Classifieds
  • Contests
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • LifestylesNEW
    • All Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Homes
    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Newsletters
  • Obituaries
  • Puzzles
  • Photo and Book store
  • More

©2022 FP Newspaper Inc.

Close
  • Quick Links

    • Coronavirus Coverage
    • Federal Election
    • Above the Fold
    • Home
    • Local
    • Canada
    • World
    • Classifieds
    • Special Coverage
    • Newsletters
    • Obituaries
    • Photo and Book store
    • Archives
    • Contests
    • Publications
    • Sponsored Content
    • Privacy Policy

    Ways to support us

    • Pay it Forward program
    • Subscribe
    • Support Faith coverage
    • Support Arts coverage
  • Replica E-Edition

    • About the E-Edition
    • Winnipeg Free Press
    • Community Review East
    • Community Review West

    Business

    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
  • Arts & Life

    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Cannabis
    • Celebrities
    • Diversions
    • Puzzles
    • Environment
    • Events
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Your Health
    • Life & Style
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Science & Technology
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Sports

    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Auto Racing
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • Golf
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Horse Racing
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Olympics
    • Soccer
  • Opinion

    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor

    Media

    • All Media
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos

    Homes

    • Property Listings
    • Featured News
    • Renovation and design
    • New homes
    • Resale homes
  • Canstar Community News

    • All Free Press Community Review News
    • East Edition
    • West Edition
    • Sports
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • E-Editions
  • Coupons

    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print Coupons
    • Ripley's Aquariums Coupons
    • The Bay Coupons
    • Staples Canada Coupons
    • Altitude Sports Coupons
    • Nike Coupons
    • Tuango Coupons
    • Ebay Canada Coupons
    • Sport Chek Coupons
    • Roots Coupons
  • About Us

    • About Us
    • Advertising
    • Contact Us
    • Carrier Positions & Retailer Requests
    • FP Newspapers Inc.
    • History
    • Internships
    • Job Opportunities
    • News Café
    • Privacy Policy
    • Retail Locations
    • Staff Biographies
    • Terms and Conditions
The Free Press
Articles Read
Your Balance +tax
Day Pass Till
Day Pass
    • Contact Us
    • Advertising Contact
    • Report an Error
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
    • Staff Biographies
    • Submit a News Tip
    • Subscribe to Newsletters

    • Finding your
      information

    • Log in
    • Create Account
    • Help
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate
    • My Account
    • Manage My Subscription
    • Change Password
    • Chat with us

    • Grid View
    • List View
    • Compact View
    • Text Size
    • Translate

    • Log Out
Log in Create Account Contact Us
Contact Us Manage Subscription
  • Sections
  • Local
  • Arts & Life
    • All Arts & Life
    • The Arts
    • Autos
    • Books
    • Diversions
    • Environment
    • Faith
    • Food & Drink
    • Health
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV
    • Travel
  • Business
    • All Business
    • Agriculture
    • Personal Finance
    • Manitoba's Top Employers
  • Sports
    • All Sports
    • Amateur
    • Blue Bombers
    • Curling
    • Football
    • Goldeyes
    • High School
    • Hockey
    • Winnipeg Jets
    • Manitoba Moose
    • WHL
    • MLB
    • NBA
    • Soccer
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Columnists
    • Editorials
    • Editorial Cartoons
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Send a Letter to the Editor
  • E-Edition
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
    • All Classifieds
    • Announcements
    • Automotive
    • Careers
    • Garage Sales
    • Merchandise
    • Pets
    • Real Estate
    • Rentals
    • Services
  • Lifestyles
    • Business Hub
    • Community
    • Drink & Dine
    • Life
    • Manitoba’s Top Employers
    • Wellness
    • Whiskers & Wings
    • Sponsored Articles
  • Coupons
    • All Coupons
    • Staples Copy & Print
    • Ripley's Aquariums
    • The Bay
    • Staples Canada
    • Altitude Sports
    • Nike
    • Tuango
    • Ebay Canada
    • Sport Chek
    • Roots
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe$1.50 for 5 months
Home Opinion FYI

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

FASD breeds bitter frustration

By: Robert Marshall
Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Mar. 20, 2010

  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Print
  • Email
  • Save to Read Later

Raymond Crowder was born in 1982 and doomed to die early.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/3/2010 (4491 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Opinion

Raymond Crowder was born in 1982 and doomed to die early.

Ray suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder because his biological mother drank heavily during her pregnancy. The booze was passed onto Raymond, still in the womb. She was drunk when he was born. So was he, in fact, as drunk as she was.

Ray's brain was ruined from Day 1.

It's an odd disorder. Researchers, labs and bags of money aren't needed to find the "cure." It's a choice of drinking or not during pregnancy.

It sounds like a simple choice given that choosing booze can mean setting up a child for a life of unnecessary misery. Expensive misery. Each case of FASD means $1.5-million in social expenses. In Canada, it will take $600 billion to deal with the current caseload. And new cases arrive daily.

There are varying degrees of disorder. Facial characteristics readily identify some while others are less obvious. But beneath the surface of most lurks a childlike skill set with brakes that don't work. An older FASD teenager who appears normal often considers consequence -- while joining a gang or stealing a car -- in much the same way as a four-year-old.

The entire social network is touched by this disaster and perhaps none more than the justice system.

Mental illness is a huge drain on police resources and 95 per cent of FASD victims experience mental health issues. The courts will deal with the 70 per cent of FASD sufferers in legal trouble. Half of all FASD-afflicted people will end up in jail.

FASD was at play when three River Heights homes, one beside the next, burned to the ground. The arsonist was sentenced to jail in large part because the judge determined that jail was the only 24/7 structure with the supervision and monitoring needed to protect both offender and community from the disorder.

Structure and supervision is needed day and night, every day, every week, no holidays.

In Winnipeg Val Surbey's son, Christopher, had FASD and needed help that was beyond her abilities. But every time she approached local government departments and social agencies with her pleas "their eyes would glaze over." Surbey knows the extra care is expensive but wonders how a price can be attached to a child's life.

Five years ago I learned about Angela (real name withheld). She lives in the U.S. southwest. Like Surbey, she was able to give the needed structure to her adopted son in the early years, but control was impossible after he turned 13. They battled for school support and got it. But it wasn't enough. Her son, at 18, landed in jail for attacking his dad with a knife.

Last week I caught up with Angela. She and her husband have no contact with their son. He's 23 now and frankly, they don't feel safe around him. They're certain he dabbles in drugs and crime. His IQ is high and despite being brought up in a stable and loving middle-class home (Angela is a social worker and her husband is a chartered accountant) his dangerous, unpredictable qualities prevail. She accepts that "he is doing the best he can with his brain damage from FASD."

What they were able to offer wasn't enough. That's a repeated story and the pressure on families who try is enormous. Angela believes that adopting an FASD child should be accompanied by some background or training in the affliction.

FASD means victimization, too. Surbey's son was just 17, out wandering alone at night with no structure, no supervision and no judgment. He was murdered at 1 a.m., June 6, 2005 in the darkness of a Winnipeg night. With a positive outlook, Surbey told me last week about her other son who had a troubling, early-life, FAS diagnosis. He's in university today.

And what happened to Ray Crowder? His adopted family tried for years but FASD is all about bad and uncontrolled choices. Somehow, at age 21, Ray crossed paths with a man who shot him dead in the street. There was booze on his breath when he died, completing his sad circle of life.

Solutions bounce from thorny suggestions of sterilization to new laws that would make it illegal to drink while pregnant. Other streams of thought call for education accompanied by promises of initiatives, advisory committees, consultations, guides for future action, frameworks, programs, databases, blah, blah blah.

The Free Press | Newsletter

Winnipeg Gardener

What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. A monthly email from the Free Press with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing.

Sign up for Winnipeg Gardener
Sign Up

The discussion pits pragmatism against idealism. And the likely result is cynicism because the problem isn't on the radar of enough people. Until it is, there is little reason for hope, especially in First Nations communities that are generally grossly over-represented in the saga.

Frustration looms because prevention is at hand. But here in Manitoba the environment for FASD proliferation remains perfect.

 

Robert Marshall is a former Winnipeg police officer now working as a security consultant.

 

rm112800@hotmail.com

  • Report Error
  • Submit a Tip
  • Refund
  • The Free Press is certified by

The Winnipeg Free Press invites you to share your opinion on this story in a letter to the editor. A selection of letters to the editor are published daily.

To submit a letter:
• fill out the form on this page, or
• email letters@freepress.mb.ca, or
• mail Letters to the Editor, 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R2X 3B6.

Letters must include the writer’s full name, address, and a daytime phone number. Letters are edited for length and clarity.

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Top