Abstract
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a lifelong neuro-disability caused by pre-natal alcohol exposure, which impacts the whole body, leading to potential challenges in physical, emotional, cognitive, mental, spiritual, and behavioural wellbeing. It is thought that around 30–50% of children in care or youth justice settings may live with FASD and therefore social workers need to understand how FASD presents. Social workers need to know what they can do to support children and families where FASD impacts the whole family, especially as the family interacts with health, care, education, and justice systems that are ignorant of the disability. In this entry, we will explore FASD and its primary and secondary issues, and we will position FASD within a framework of critical disability rights, exploring how social work and social workers can offer genuine advocacy and strengths-based approaches.