For 12 years, I was the senior Native American specialist for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, SAMHSA, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Center for Excellence. In Arizona I’m a licensed substance abuse counselor, and I maintain a psychotherapy practice. I am a member of the Osage Nation, I come from the Gray Horse district. I’d like to introduce myself, I’m Candace Shelton. As the reading said, we all have a purpose, and we are all beautiful. When working with children that have a disability, we must drop back and see the child is more than their disability, to see the beauty of the child. When a child has difficult behavior that may be troubling or that we have a hard time dealing with, we must drop back and look at the whole. I like this reading because it’s important both personally and for our children. Creator, today let me see the beauty of the whole.” “How are we looking at ourselves? Are we focused on something ugly about ourselves or are we dropping back and looking at ourselves as a whole? We all have a purpose, and we are all beautiful. It’s fitting together and making something beautiful and whole.” Each insect, though it may look ugly, is participating. For example, if we look at a whole insect nation, we will see a great order. When we drop back even more and observe what its role and purpose is, the insect becomes even more beautiful. If we look at an insect close up it may be ugly, but if we drop back and look at the whole insect it becomes beautiful. “Sometimes we look at something close up and it appears to be ugly, but then we drop back and look at the whole and it is beautiful. “Dissimilar things were fitted together to make something beautiful and whole.” – Nippawanock, Arapahoe. This is a reading from Don Coyhis’ “Meditation with Native American Elders.” Before we begin, I want to share a reading with you to start our webinar in a good way. Steve Shuman: It’s now my pleasure to introduce my friend and colleague Candace Shelton.Ĭandace Shelton: Thank you, Steve, and thanks for all the housekeeping that you did to let everyone know we all know how important it is to get our certificates. These conditions can affect each person in different ways, and can range from mild to severe.Identifying and Working with Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders FASDs refer to the whole range of effects that can happen to a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. There is also no safe time to drink during pregnancy and no safe kind of alcohol to drink while pregnant. There is no known amount of alcohol that is safe to drink while pregnant. Often, a person with an FASD has a mix of these problems.įASDs are caused by a woman drinking alcohol during pregnancy. These effects can include physical problems and problems with behavior and learning. Your baby is depending on you to make the right choice.įASD is a group of conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. Whatever you take should be approved by your healthcare provider. This includes cigarettes, alcohol, energy drinks, marijuana, illegal street drugs, or over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs.
It is important to take care of yourself and your baby by avoiding any drug use during pregnancy. Finding out that you are pregnant is an exciting occasion, but it brings a whole new set of challenges.