...would not let me publish it. About a month ago I revisited the Webpage and it had disappeared. Today I checked and it is simply not found and that gives me the right to now print this gruesome article.
The Face of FAS
(Edward Riley, a San Diego State University scientist, projects what he calls the "Face of FAS," a child with all the facial characteristics of fetal alcohol syndrome, during a seminar on FAS at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel. FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson Citizen)
Citizen Staff Writer
Nov. 13, 2001
Edward Riley
He scribbled notes and listened intently, searching for scientific facts that would help him understand why his adopted son killed his beloved wife. Andrew McMullen saw photos of shriveled, underdeveloped brains and heard that the disorder his 15-year-old son, Jonathan, is said to have - fetal alcohol syndrome - can cause tremendous behavioral problems.
"I'm trying to figure out this stuff for myself," McMullen, 55, said at a Tucson conference on fetal alcohol syndrome last week. "We had suspected it (prenatal exposure to alcohol) might be in his background, but we really didn't know."
The McMullens were not prepared for the problems the adopted child would bring into the family. FAS is the leading cause of mental retardation in Western civilization.
McMullen and his wife, Kristina, 56, took Jonathan McMullen and his two brothers, Jack, 12, and Joe, 11, into their home in Elgin as foster children in 1999 after the three were about to be split up. A year later, the McMullens, a devoutly religious family, adopted the boys.
Then on Sept. 7, Jonathan McMullen, who was at his home with a 12-year-old friend, shot his adoptive parents and his brother, Jack. Andrew and Jack McMullen recovered.
The family is supportive of Jonathan McMullen, who is in jail on charges of first-degree murder and attempted murder. "He needs to be protected from himself," said Andrew McMullen, who participated in the conference on FAS, attended by 200 people. "Prison won't help him."
McMullen listened to Edward Riley, a San Diego State University scientist who is investigating how exposure to alcohol in the womb affects behavior throughout a person's lifetime.
Riley shared the latest information on how alcohol can cause holes in a developing brain. It can also result in a significantly smaller brain that is missing critical pieces. He showed the audience numerous brain scans of people exposed to alcohol in the womb, and the deficiencies were tremendous.
But Riley has also devoted much of his research to lesser-known and harder to diagnose disabilities that have been called fetal alcohol effect (FAE) or prenatal exposure to alcohol (PEA). Far greater numbers of people suffer from tremendous behavioral problems but may go undiagnosed because they do not have the telltale "face of FAS" Riley said.
"They may look normal, but they have lots of behavioral problems," Riley said. He said the cerebellum, which affects balance and the ability to pay attention, can be severely damaged by prenatal alcohol exposure. The permanent, irreversible brain damage can cause children and adults to repeatedly "do stupid things," he said.
In past years, people attributed behavior problems in children to their environment. "Lots of people were saying, 'The kid's doing that because he's been in six different foster homes,' but the problem lies in the changes in the brain, and not from living in five foster homes or being abused. It happened at eight weeks (in pregnancy)."
Children exposed to alcohol in the womb are likely to end up with mental health problems, in jail or another institution, fail at school and on the job and be unable to care for themselves, according to several studies.
No known level of drinking in pregnancy is safe, and women should abstain, Riley repeatedly warned.
Teresa Kellerman, who adopted her son John at birth, spoke personally of the devastation drinking during pregnancy can bring.
"Kids with FAS are not capable of being left on their own," Kellerman said. "They can't make good choices alone." The Kellermans were featured in an award-winning, six-day series called "Born on the Bottle: Drunk for Life," which ran in the Tucson Citizen in 1997.
Kellerman also reminded the audience that while the brain damage is permanent and devastating, the spirit that lives in those with FAS must be appreciated. "The precious spirit inside these kids is whole and healthy, and I celebrate that," Kellerman said.
(NEXT BLOG - Where does alcohol affects the brain?)
McMullen was later part of a panel discussion that included parents and professionals who work with people with FAS and other related disorders.
Riley shared the latest information on how alcohol can cause holes in a developing brain. It can also result in a significantly smaller brain that is missing critical pieces. He showed the audience numerous brain scans of people exposed to alcohol in the womb, and the deficiencies were tremendous.
Far greater numbers of people suffer from tremendous behavioral problems but may go undiagnosed because they do not have the telltale "face of FAS" Riley said. "They may look normal, but they have lots of behavioral problems," Riley said. He said the cerebellum, which affects balance and the ability to pay attention, can be severely damaged by prenatal alcohol exposure.
The permanent, irreversible brain damage can cause children and adults to repeatedly "do stupid things," he said.
It goes to show once again how there is no safe day to drink. Once again, this tragedy happened because the birth mother drank during her eighth week of pregnancy.
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