My name is Rossi I am 21 years of age and this is my mum Jan……

Jan Griffin Birth mum and advocate.

Jan, birth mum to Rossi, a now 21 year old young man with FASD, is a firm advocate of getting the word out about FASD and the effects that alcohol can have on an unborn child.  As a social drinker at the age of 40, having previously had health issues which led to a cardiac arrest and being put on medication for a rare immune disorder, she was told she could no longer have children. So it was a shock when at the age of 40 to be told she was pregnant.  Back then, I was unaware of the danger’s alcohol could cause her child. It wasn’t until her son (Rossi) was six years old that it became apparent that he was struggling with social and educational skills. They spent the next few years, backwards and forwards visiting various specialists and he collected a plethora of labels (autism, ADHD, Asperger’s and many others) none of these diagnoses were quite the right fit for his presentation. It wasn’t until Janet read about a young man with FASD, it was as if the story had been written about Rossi himself. Rossi despite his difficulties, shares his story. Advising parents of children with FASD, to not sit in a system that doesn’t cater for FASD. “We need support from those that understand us.  Like my mum, she saw I couldn’t do maths but knew I was creative, so we went there, to where I could achieve, where I was able, not disable.”

 #FINDTHEIRBRILLIANT is her tag line. Having pursued and eventually gained the diagnosis of FASD, Jan and Rossi now strive to bring about change. They share their lived experiences of the consequences that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can cause. They now plan to spread the word via a book and a Road-trip across the country.  It has been a huge learning curve helping Rossi to be his best him. Thinking on your feet took on a whole new meaning, especially as it felt like I was trying to balance on a moving platform at the same time. How can you learn if there is no one that is able to teach you. Exactly.  Slowly but surely, I learned how to navigate a system that was not ready for Rossi, or a birth mum putting their hand, exposing themselves as the the cause of their child’s brain damage. I was often told that people ‘like me’ don’t have children with FASD. By that, it was clear that the Ill informed doctors I was seeing were assuming someone with a good education, a job and a nice home, (according to some graph somewhere) did not have children with FASD and I should stop beating myself up. I was seeing the judgement that holds onto the misinformation.  It is now a ‘pay it forward’ for me, the more I can put my head above the parapet, the more I hope other birth mums can step out from the shadows. They do not have to be hidden. Not one of us set out to harm our children. No mother on the planet sets out to do that hurt their baby.