When women drink during pregnancy, they not only affect their health, but they put their unborn child at risk of having a wide range of physical, cognitive and behavioral difficulties due to the prenatal exposure to alcohol.
Daniel Dubovsky, MSW, LSW
Daniel Dubovsky, MSW, LSW, will give an overview of the effects of alcohol on a developing fetus and the resulting fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in a Suter Science Seminar 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19, in room 104 of the Suter Science Center. The speaker will also discuss behavioral and cognitive difficulties that children, adolescents and adults with FASD often have at home, in school and in the community.
As fetal alcohol spectrum disorders are 100% preventable, his presentation will examine specific intervention strategies for addressing FASD.
Dubovsky is currently the FASD specialist for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) FASD Center for Excellence, Rockville, Md. He has worked for over 35 years in the field of mental health and developmental disabilities.
After receiving his MSW, he worked as a therapist in a residential setting with children, adolescents and young adults with serious mental illness and other disabilities. He has also worked with all ages as a therapist in community-based and hospital settings, addressing both medical and psychiatric needs of those with acute, chronic and terminal illness.
"Parents of children affected with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder face unique challenges in nurturing and raising their children," said Roman J. Miller, Suter Endowed Professor of Biology at EMU. "This seminar will give parents and caregivers, educators, counselors and social workers suggestions and strategies to help compensate for the devastating effects of alcohol," he added.
Refreshments will be served 15 minutes prior to the presentation, which is open to the public free of charge.
For more information, contact Dr. Miller at 540-432-4412; email: millerrj@emu.edu.