Justin and his adoptive mother

One person’s journey through the years ‘miraculous’ — and costly

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Justin Scott sits at his dining room table dabbing pink frosting on a snowman sugar cookie and humming “Silent Night.” The chaos of his young niece and nephew decorating their own cookies bubbles around him.

If the 20-year-old could sing to his family maybe he would. But Justin can’t form the words to talk. His best communication is through jerky motions of American Sign Language.

There are a lot of things Justin can’t do.

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People with fetal alcohol exposure are an invisible population — underserved and misunderstood.

Part of a multi-part series by Minnesota Public Radio.

Pregnant women who drink alcohol risk giving birth to children with permanent brain damage. Studies show that as these kids become adolescents and adults, many get in trouble with the law. Experts say many people who work in the criminal justice system don’t understand fetal alcohol syndrome. The system isn’t designed to deal with offenders affected by the disorder. But there are some efforts to change that.

Other series topics include:

• Living with FASD as an adult
• How to educate kids with FASD
• International adoptions bring more alcohol-exposed kids to U.S.
• Alcohol exposure affects generations on Indian reservations