Office of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

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Age Comparison

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Age-appropriate vs. Developmental Age-appropriate Expectations

Age	Chronological Age Expectations:	Developmental Age with FASD:
5	Go to school Follow 3 instructions Interactive, cooperative play Share Take turns	Take naps Follow one instruction Help mommy Sit still for 5-10 minutes Parallel play Are active "My way or no way"
6	Listen, pay attention for an hour Read and write Line up Wait their turn Remember events Remember requests	Pay attention for about 10-minutes Scribble Need to be shown and reminded Don’t wait gracefully Act impulsively Need adult structure/reminders for tasks
10	Reads books without pictures Learns from work sheets Answers abstract questions Knows right from wrong Gets along with others, solves problems Learns inferentially, academic and social Physical stamina	Beginning to read, with pictures Learn by doing, experientially Mirror and echo words, behaviors Supervised play, structured play Learn from modeled problem solving Developing sense of fairness Easily fatigued by mental work
13	Are responsible Organize themselves, plan ahead, follow through Meet deadlines after being told once Initiate, follow through Appropriate social boundaries re: body space, appropriate touch Establish and maintain friendships	Need reminding Need visual cues, modeling Simple expectations Need prompting Kinesthetic, tactile, lots of touching,in your space, just learning about boundaries Early friendships
18	On the verge of independence Maintain a job and graduate from school Have a plan for life Budget own money Organize	Needs structure and guidance Limited choices of activities In the "here and now," little projection Giggles, curiosity, frustration Gets an allowance Gets organized with the help of adults

Developed by Deb Evensen and Diane Malbin of FASCETS.