RELEASE: September 5, 2003

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Media Advisory 
National experts to converge on New Jersey for
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome National Convention

On October 27-28 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, New Jersey’s Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Task Force will hold a conference to mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of the first articles describing the clinical characteristics of FAS in the international medical journal The Lancet. Because the FAS Task Force, a committee of the Governor’s Council on the Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, is a national leader in telling the story of FAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) has signed on as a co-sponsor, making this a “national conference.” The conference theme is The Truth and Consequences of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and one of the authors of the original articles, Dr. Ken Jones, will be the opening keynote speaker. The national conference culminates a month of activities across New Jersey observing September 9th, International FAS Awareness Day.

FAS is an array of permanent, non-curable birth defects and physical malformations, including mental retardation, that is caused by women drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure generally show three major characteristics: facial anomalies (narrow width of the eyes, no narrow groove under the nose, and extremely thin upper lip), growth retardation, and central nervous system abnormalities such as attention deficits, hyperactivity, autistic-like behavior, memory and learning problems, sensory integration and mental health problems, behavioral disabilities, and poor decision-making abilities. Nationally, 55,000 children are born each year with FAS, only 5,000 of whom show the facial abnormalities, but all of whom have some level of mental retardation.

FAS Awareness Day activities across New Jersey will include:

• The Hudson Perinatal Consortium (HPC) will hold an FAS Awareness Day Breakfast in its offices at 242 Tenth Street in Jersey City on September 9, from 8:45 to 10am for city officials, other dignitaries, treatment providers, health clinics, and local agencies interested in the welfare of pregnant women and children. HPC has asked all churches and synagogues to ring bells at nine minutes after nine a.m. and has asked mayors and councils across Hudson County to introduce proclamations in observance of FAS Day.

• On September 20th, as he has done for the last three years, Prevention Coordinator for The Arc of Atlantic County Brian Illencik will go to the Babies R Us store in Mays Landing to speak to expectant mothers and hand out drinking glasses with a picture of a baby looking upside down through its diaper saying “Think Before You Drink.” Illencik will also touch base with family physicians and OB/GYN offices in his region to thank them for displaying his FAS informational materials, which he will replenish for their waiting rooms.

• In South Jersey, The Arc of Burlington County’s Citizen Advocacy Program will hold its first Pregnant Pause on Tuesday, October 7th from 6 to 9 p.m. at Lamberti’s Cucina on Route 38 in Mt. Holly, Burlington County. Pregnant Pause is a community education campaign that educates the public about the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The FREE baby shower, open to all pregnant women in Burlington County, offers “a night of FREE food, fun and prizes as we talk about healthy pregnancies!!” said Lorraine Travaglione of the Citizen Advocacy Program. “Our games and entertainment interweave education about how to have a healthy baby, addressing alcohol, smoking, drugs, and good pre-natal care.” To register, call 609-267-5880 by October 1st.

Additional information about FAS, International FAS Day and the 30th Anniversary FAS Conference can be obtained from Deborah Cohen, Director of the New Jersey Office for Prevention of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities at 609-984-3351 or deborah.cohen@dhs.state.nj.us; or from Ann Wilson, Director of the New Jersey Coalition for Prevention of Developmental Disabilities of The Arc of New Jersey at 732-246-2525, ext. 23 or awilson@arcnj.org. Conference brochures, including registration forms and information about conference fees, may be obtained by visiting http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/OPMRDD/FASconfbrochure-p1.pdf

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