'At risk of confabulation' ..... why should this be written into every child with FASD learning, medical &/or in their EHC Plan. Confabulation should be risk assessed in every organisation who supports children, young people and adults with alcohol exposure or diagnosed FASD.
A child might make up a story that isn't true but they believe it to be true (100%)....... why is this not lying?
Due to the damage to the brain through exposure to alcohol it pieces bits and pieces of information together in their memory and it makes it their own. This is not lying. But how do you risk assess against it? How do you know when they are telling the truth? How do you keep them safe?
This can make families and professionals vulnerable to safeguarding claims hence the need to really understand it to risk assess against it.
Think of the behaviours you may see from the child on the surface:
Lying
Stealing
Impulsivity
Risk-taking.
Now think of what is happening that we cannot see:
Slow processing time.
Not understanding what is being said.
The brain does not think about consequences.
The body moves before the brain can think.
Often desperate to seem “normal”.
If you think the child is confabulating, it’s important not to pressurise them to tell the truth – this can lead to escalation and or shaming them. Accept that the story is filling a memory gap, and try to move on.
If your school or organisation needs training in key deficits of the brain through Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder / confabulation & risk assessments / FASD strategies... consider taking our bespoke training session that considers all of these things.
©FASD Informed UK
Image with kind permission of one of our FASD Friend @Charlie Mackesy
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