My Journey Through Trauma, PTSD While Living With FASD

I had been looking forward to attend the 9th International FASD conference in Seattle, Washington for quite a  while, each day building in anticipation. This  because I wanted to be able to share my experiences, strengths and challenges living with FASD. Then to be able to relate my story to other peers, adults and family's so they understand just cause I am on a stage speaking I am not perfect and have lots of struggles in my life, as does my family. I have also always wanted to travel around the world and share my lived experiences, strengths, victories and difficulties living with FASD, so others understand they are not alone in their experiences. For some time, I have been going through a rough patch, feeling lost and very frustrated; why is this you may ask? Well, I wish I knew completely... There are the challenges of living with FASD, the all to common mental health issues, learning disabilities, lack of understanding, lack of supports and more and just being different and t

I recently got to experience what it is like to attend the 9th International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Conference in Seattle, Washington, USA. A lot of people are fixated on the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the monorail, or even their passion for Starbucks coffee. But, do you know what I was fixated on? The amount of poverty and homeless in that city, it was very heartbreaking to see in person. I have always known Seattle as a rich and wealthy city as I have always heard about it that way on social media or even television. When you see information about Seattle it is about the bright lights, the tourist attractions, and fancy restaurants but you never see the poor people portrayed. You would think in a city like that they would have more support or resources for these situations.  But if you take a look at FASD and the available help and resources there is very few if any depending on what you need.  There are often if not minimal to no resources available and it is r

Music as a tool to my response from trauma and FASD seems an odd title as I have written how music helps me so much to regulate and frees my mind to be able to accomplish more important things in my life, but read on and you will understand. Music has always been important to me since I was very young and in my birth home. Yet it was in the birth home that my love of music started. I had an old little black radio with chrome speakers, and had a antennae that had to pointed just right to hear anything, but static.  I used to listen to that little radio to  drown out the noise of what ever horrible things were going on. That could be fights, drug deals gone wrong, my birth mom being beaten up, my little brother being hurt or crying he was so hungry and lonely locked away in a darkened room and ignored. There were so many things I just did not want to hear and my little radio and the music it played was my escape.  This love of music carried on all through my birth home, my placements in