Hanging around playing video games may sound like fun, but it is
also part of a University of the Fraser Valley research project
focused on kids with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. UFV has
been running FAST Club, an after-school motor-skills program for
children with FASD for the past three years. New this year is an
after-school video game program called BrainGamers Club. Both
projects have a mission of helping children tap into their inner
strengths with regards to their motor skills and gaming skills,
and investigating whether the impacts of these activities cross
over into other areas. FAST Club is almost full for this year,
but there is still room for more children in the winter session
of the new BrainGamers Club, which runs for 24 sessions, twice a
week from January until April. “A typical approach to treating
children with FASD involves focusing on their weaknesses. We do
assessments and target their best areas and give them choices
about what skills they want to improve upon,” says Dr. Chris
Bertra