Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is defined as "a specific pattern of abnormalities in infants born to chronic alcohol mothers" (Jones, Smith, Ulleland, & Streissguth, 1973). The abnormalities that the definition suggests are growth retardation, central nervous system dysfunction, and morphological anomalies such as narrowing of the forehead, thin upper lip, flattened space between upper lip and nose, and flattened bridge of the nose to name a few (Carlson, 1977/2004). "In the western world, fetal alcohol exposure is the most prevalent single cause of intellectual impairment in children" (Clarren, 1986).
The Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) does not list criteria for FAS, nor does it consider it a mental illness. Lawrence states that prenatal alcohol impairment, however, also comes in a milder form called fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Children with FAE often don't look disabled, and they tend to score in the low-normal or......
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