Neuropsychological evaluation of preschoolers with fetal alcohol syndrome

Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) manifest a variety of central nervous system deficits which may include mental retardation, perceptual, linguistic and fine motor deficits, as well as behaviour problems. The neuropsychological performance of to preschool-aged children with FAS was compared to age, sex, and race-matched controls. Profile analysis revealed significant deficits in the FAS group on measures of intelligence and linguistic abilities. Comparison of group profiles revealed that the FAS group displayed impaired visual-motor integration in the presence of average visual-perceptual matching. The FAS children were also reported to exhibit a greater frequency of behaviour problems compared to controls. Although the FAS group were significantly growth delayed, the often reported association between cognitive abilities and skeletal growth was not evident. These results indicate that preschoolers with FAS display a distinct pattern of impairments, and understanding of this unique ability profile is important for the development of support and intervention programs for these patients and their families.