These disabilities often emerge over time due to a mismatch between the primary disabilities and environmental expectations; secondary disabilities can be ameliorated with early interventions and appropriate supportive services.Six main secondary disabilities were identified in a University of Washington research study of 473 subjects diagnosed with FAS, PFAS (partial fetal alcohol syndrome), and ARND (alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder):
Mental health problems: Diagnosed with ADHD, Clinical Depression, or other mental illness, experienced by over 90% of the subjects
Disrupted school experience: Suspended or expelled from school or dropped out of school, experienced by 60% of the subjects (age 12 and older)
Trouble with the law: Charged or convicted with a crime, experienced by 60% of the subjects (age 12 and older)
Confinement: For inpatient psychiatric care, inpatient chemical dependency care, or incarcerated for a crime, experienced by about 50% of the subjects (age 12 and older)
Inappropriate sexual behavior: Sexual advances, sexual touching, or promiscuity, experienced by about 50% of the subjects (age 12 and older)
Alcohol and drug problems: Alcohol use disorder or dependence, experienced by 35% of the subjects (age 12 and older)Two additional secondary disabilities exist for adults:
Dependent living: Group home, living with family or friends, or some sort of assisted living, experienced by 80% of the subjects (age 21 and older)
Problems with employment: Required ongoing job training or coaching, could not keep a job, unemployed, experienced by 80% of the subjects (age 21 and older)

Protective factors and strengths
Eight factors were identified in the same study as universal protective factors that reduced the incidence rate of the secondary disabilities:
Living in a stable and nurturing home for over 73% of life
Being diagnosed with FAS before age six
Never having experienced violence
Remaining in each living situation for at least 2.8 years
Experiencing a "good quality home" (meeting 10 or more defined qualities) from age 8 to 12 years old
Having been found eligible for developmental disability (DD) services
Having basic needs met for at least 13% of life
Having a diagnosis of FAS (rather than another FASD condition)Malbin (2002) has identified the following areas of interests and talents as strengths that often stand out for those with FASD and should be utilized, like any strength, in treatment planning:
Music, playing instruments, composing, singing, art, spelling, reading, computers, mechanics, woodworking, skilled vocations (welding, electrician, etc.
Compression of the brachial plexus may be identified by weakness of the muscles in the hand, near the base of the thumb. Compression of the subclavian artery is often diagnosed by finding a positive Adsons sign on examination, where the radial pulse in the arm is lost during abduction and external rotation of the shoulder. A positive Adsons sign is non-specific for the presence of a cervical rib however, as many individuals without a cervical rib will have a positive test. Compression of the sympathetic chain may cause Horners syndrome. Other animals
Many vertebrates, especially reptiles, have cervical ribs as a normal part of their anatomy rather than a pathological condition. Some sauropods had exceptionally long cervical ribs; those of Mamenchisaurus hochuanensis were nearly 4 meters long. In birds, the cervical ribs are small and completely fused to the vertebrae. In mammals, the ventral parts of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae are the fused-on cervical ribs. Recent studies have also found a high percent of cervical ribs in woolly mammoths. It is believed that the decline in mammoth numbers may have forced inbreeding within the species which in turn had increased the number of mammoths being born with cervical ribs. Cervical ribs have been connected with leukaemia in human children, so it has given scientists new evidence to believe that the mammoths extinction was attributed to the condition. References


== External links ==