Next: CHOoSE Project Introduction

The CHOoSE Project Presents

Our FASD and Housing Course

What?

This course will lead you through the CHOoSE Project, what we learned, and how you can use it. It is designed to support individuals with FASD, their caregivers, policymakers, and housing service providers in identifying, understanding, and addressing the unique housing needs of individuals with FASD.

Why?

Although FASD is recognized as a lifelong disability that can affect independent living skills, many Canadian housing programs and systems are not FASD-informed.

A persistent lack of understanding about how FASD manifests across the lifespan continues to be a significant barrier to securing safe, stable, and appropriate housing.

  • You are here! This page is an overview of the guide.

  • Section 2 explores what the CHOoSE project actually was, what we did, and what we learned.

  • Section 3 explores the issue of access - to resources, services, and housing options.

    For many people, having access to these things is currently a large barrier to housing. This presents an opportunity to make a difference.

  • Section 4 discusses individualization.

    People with FASD are unique. Great successes can be born out of celebrating and uplifting that uniqueness, and adapting housing and supports to suit each person as they are.

  • Section 5 discusses collaboration.

    Housing is connected to many different areas of life. Supporting housing needs to be a team effort across all of these areas.

  • Section 6 will describe understanding.

    Understanding is fundamental to safe and stable housing. It also is intertwined through access, individualization and collaboration.

  • Section 7 has several tools and resources to help put into practice everything that we learned from the CHOoSE project.

    These resources can be downloaded and adapted as needed.

How?

This course is divided into sections. While each section can be read independently, we recommend reviewing the materials in sequence and exploring links and attachments for a comprehensive understanding.

This course assumes you are familiar with FASD and housing. If you have yet to have a chance, get familiar with FASD with these resources:

Key Concepts to Know

  • Intersectionality is a way of understanding the complexity of people and human experience by considering the multitude of factors (not just one factor such as gender) that influence people’s identity and experiences.

    Throughout this guide, you may see language that describes the way different people, systems and surroundings “intersect”. Housing, in particular, intersects with many different areas of life: for example, being able to pay rent is influenced by if you have a job.

  • Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that impact the health of people and communities. For example, income, employment and physical environments are all social determinants of health.

    Social determinants of health often influence housing—the living space itself can also be a determinant of health.

  • Culturally safe approaches consider how support is shaped by social and historical contexts as well as structural and interpersonal power imbalances.

    Alcohol use is connected to culture. Different cultures use alcohol in different ways, and this can become very complex in discussion around FASD. What is important is fostering a feeling of cultural safety. In practice, that means:

    • Knowing that not all people will have the same sort of connection to their culture

    • Understanding that culture has a big influence on how we experience and live our lives

    • Reflecting on yourself. How does your own culture impact the way you live your life?

    • Acknowledging that having connections to culture and community can be greatly beneficial

    • Understanding that past bad experiences of discrimination or racism may make it difficult for some people to trust or speak openly

  • Stigma is the way society can think of something negatively; stigma is what results in discrimination, prejudice, or other ways of judging, blaming, or shaming people.

    Alcohol use during pregnancy is a stigmatized topic. This stigma comes from not understanding the effects of FASD, and what can be going on when there is prenatal alcohol use.

    Shame and blame can come from the idea that drinking alcohol is a choice, and that FASD is an outcome of that choice. The problems with thinking about it this way:

    • It doesn’t consider the experiences of those who were not given a choice in their circumstances

    • It ignores the systematic and societal factors that contribute to FASD

    That is why phrases such as “FASD is 100% preventable” are also inherently stigmatizing: for many people, FASD is not 100% preventable.

    To avoid placing implicit blame and closing a conversation prematurely, read more in CanFASD’s Common Language Guide.

  • All supports and services that work with individuals with FASD should be FASD-informed: that includes housing.

    Being FASD-informed means knowing about behaviours and experiences of individuals may arise as a result of FASD. This shared context of understanding encourages support.

    To be FASD-informed, you can:

    • Always be willing to learn and be wrong, even if you feel like an expert

    • Focus on listening to others and working with them as a team

    • Use clear, concrete and simple language

    • Find and use ways to check that you share the same understanding

    • Know that every person is different

    • Understand that, for someone with FASD, every day might be different. While they may have been able to do something one day, it might become too difficult on a different day.

    Services don’t have to be specific to FASD to benefit from becoming FASD-informed: this kind of mutual understanding benefits everyone.

  • A comprehensive approach to understanding an individuals’ needs. The person is the first priority: they are at the heart and centre of the service or support.

  • The conversation of FASD has historically focused on challenges and difficulties. Focusing on strengths brings a more balanced perspective. Moreover, the strengths and capabilities can be drawn on to provide support and services.

    To be strengths-focused means:

    • Listening and working with individuals with FASD as a team

    • Focusing on building trusting relationships

    • Empowering the individual with FASD and their families; they are the experts in their situation

    • Bringing balance to the discussion, acknowledging and supporting challenges, but using strengths and assets

    • Reframing behaviour to better understand the person. For example, changing a mindset of “this person is trying to make me mad” to “this person cannot remember what I asked them to do.”

    • Focusing on changing the environment and surroundings to support the individual, rather than asking the individual themselves to change

    In the following podcast Dr. Katy Flannigan and Dorothy Reid speak to what it means to be strength-based: Dr Katy Flannigan & Dorothy Reid: What does strengths based even mean?

  • Being trauma-informed means recognizing trauma and the role it can play in an individual’s life.

    FASD occurs in all populations that use alcohol, but rates increase in populations that experience complex trauma.

    Trauma-informed practice involves adapting in order to engage and support the people you work with. It does not require expertise in trauma or treatments, but rather a shift in the culture and philosophy of support: questions such as “what’s wrong with you?” instead become “how can I support you?”, shifting shame, guilt and disgust to feelings of empathy, compassion and understanding.

The Language We Use

Our priority is to communicate and model inclusive practices throughout this toolkit, and the language we use plays a crucial role in achieving this goal. Language is powerful; it shapes how we perceive and engage with the world. In this guide, we intentionally use person-centred language, such as ”persons with FASD," to emphasize that individuals are more than their disability or diagnosis. We use the language of (pregnant) women, mothers, parents, and people to honour and reflect the diversity of gender identities, sexual orientations, and roles. We encourage our readers to approach language and communication with mindfulness, respect, and inclusivity.

Next: CHOoSE Project Introduction