As I noted the other day, the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome has declared September 9 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders awareness day. So I suppose that it is entirely fitting that, this past week, Minnesota Public Radio ran a six-part series on FASD, entitled "Fetal alcohol syndrome: The invisible disorder".

The Minnesota Public Radio report is not, I should note from the outset, something that involves children adopted from Russia. The families profiled in the pieces live in Minnesota and North and South Dakota, and their children were adopted locally. But alcohol is as devastating in some parts of America as it is in Russia and what is being learned about managing and living with FASD in the upper Midwest can most certainly be of interest to parents who have adopted children from Russia affected by pre-natal exposure to alcohol.

Part one of the MPR report focuses on Denise and Doug Finnell, who adopted four biological siblings with FASD, to greater and lesser degrees. The story, and the accompanying audio reports illustrate with great clarity how the lingering effects of their pre-natal exposure to alcohol can cause the children to spin out of control, both physically and emotionally. Denise tells the reporter, "It's like we're raising drunk kids". Part two is a look at the difficulty of diagnosing FASD disorders. At one South Dakota clinic, it can takes an entire day to evaluate a child suspected of having FASD. That is especially daunting, since, as the report points out, 40,000 children in America join the ranks of those affected by fetal-alcohol syndrome every year.

But of all the sections and resources in the report, it was part four that I found the most interesting. It looks at what's being done to teach teachers about educating the FASD-affected children in their classrooms. The approach in the suburban Minneapolis school district is interesting because of its focus on behavioral change. But it is somewhat depressing to read that, while children seem to be benefiting from the program, managing it can prove overwhelming to the teachers involved, leading to enormous staff turnover.

Take a look at the report. And if any of you are parents in the Midwest who have availed your family of some of the resources mentioned in it, I'd love to hear about it.

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