FASworld Canada

250 Scarborough Golf Club Road

Toronto, ON   M1J 3G8

416-264-8000 Voice

416-264-8222 Fax

info@fasworld.com 

Bonnie Buxton and Brian Philcox are co-founders of the FASworld Alliance working in collaboration with Teresa Kellerman, coordinator of the FAS Community Resource Center (FASCRC)in Tucson, AZ.    Bonnie Brian Teresa                                                                   Bonnie & Brian are available online and by telephone for counseling during business hours (EST) and will travel to your location to give interactive workshops, presentations or consultations for travel expenses and a budget-conscious speaking fee. Bonnie or Brian speak at conferences across Canada and abroad, individually and together. They will develop a workshop or presentation to suit the needs of your organization or conference. They can be reached at the phone number or e-mail address above.   Teresa Kellerman has combined 10 years of national conferences, 20 years of research analysis, and 30 years of personal experience, and has put it all on the FASCRC website.  Experts call it the most comprehensive website on FASD in the world.  Over 2,000 individuals a day visit her site.  Parents, professionals, teachers and students all find original articles, fact sheets, posters, brochures, handouts, research abstracts, book reviews, conference notes, photos, personal stories, presentations, intervention techniques, prevention strategies, support groups, quizzes, skits, and more.  Visit the FASCRC at www.come-over.to/FASCRC.   Teresa’s FASDay web site www.fasday.com is home base for awareness activists who celebrate FASD Awareness Day on September 9th each year.  Teresa offers a FASDay mail list for sharing ideas, and each year she posts lots of fresh ideas for raising awareness about FASD and reports on events in communities around the world. Teresa has brought together online FASDay activists in more than 200 communities where bells are rung, proclamations are issued, media interviews are aired, and workshops, walk-a-thons, and rallies take place.      Our Mission FASworld Canada is a pro-active, non-profit organization dedicated to the significant reduction of the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and is committed to the following goals:   To build public awareness of the high incidence of FASD; its huge financial cost to taxpayers; the countless tragedies resulting from this invisible disability; and the fact that individuals with FASD can be helped through early diagnosis and community support; Communicate the message that there is no established safe threshold of alcohol consumption in pregnancy; To reduce the incidence of secondary disabilities among individuals living with mental or physical damage caused by FASD and other substance-related birth disorders; Provide support and information to parents, caregivers and professionals dealing with FASD, as well as individuals living with FASD;  Encourage new policies and programs for individuals with FAS and their families, women of childbearing age and their partners, and individuals struggling with alcohol and substance abuse issues;  Work locally, nationally and internationally, with other support groups, individuals and organizations, who indicate a common interest in some or all of these approaches to dealing with FASD.

History:

FASworld Canada was founded in 1999 Bonnie Buxton and Brian Philcox when, having finally obtained a diagnosis of ARND (Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder) for their daughter Colette, they realized that they were part of a sub-culture in our society. In other words, although they had met many knowledgeable families and a smattering of professionals at FAS conferences and on FASlink, they realized that most professionals in education, justice, medicine and social work fields were largely unaware of the scope and ramifications of FASD in our society.

Thus, as lifelong professional communicators themselves, they decided to create an organization that would bring awareness of the tragedy of FASD to the media, to governments, to all professionals who needed to know about the disabilities of those they were dealing with on a daily basis, and ultimately, the general public.

Then, in collaboration with their friend and colleague, Teresa Kellerman of Tucson, they created the first FASDay (International FAS Awareness Day) on September 9, 1999. Since then, FASDay has been celebrated in hundreds of communities around the world. For more about FASDay go to Get Involved That same year, Bonnie and Brian developed the symbol that sets apart those who advocate for individuals who struggle with FASD. The FAS Knot has been used around the world to identify those who care and who are working for prevention and support these individuals. For more information go to FAS Knot

Speakers, Presentations, Workshops

Since 1999, Bonnie and Brian have traveled across Canada, the US and abroad to the U.K., Germany, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to join with others to educate about the dreadful cost of maternal drinking in pregnancy. Please call or write to FASworld Canada if you would like a speaker on FASD or a workshop for your organization.

Individually or together, Bonnie and Brian speak to conferences and to organizations wanting to learn more about FASD and how to cope. Their message is for parents and professionals and each presentation is tailored to the needs of the group. Wherever possible, they involve their audience in order to enhance the learning process. Many schools, aboriginal and professional organizations have asked them back many times to reach out to students, teachers, social workers, doctors, nurses, police, probation officers, corrections officers, addiction counsellors and many others. Whenever possible, their daughter Colette shares the podium with them to express the perspective of someone who struggles with ARND every day.

Teresa is a certified speaker for SAMHSA’s FASD Center for Excellence, The Arc, the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, and the Native American Alliance Foundation.  Teresa conducts seminars on FASD all over the world, sometimes with her son, John, who is a young adult with FAS.  Teresa can be contacted through Fasstar Enterprises www.fasstar.com

Parent Support Group

Bonnie Buxton and Brian Philcox facilitate a monthly parent support group (professionals and other caregivers are always welcome) in Toronto and respond to calls from parents and caregivers of individuals with FASD, and in many cases, with individuals with FASD as well. For guidelines on how to start a support group in your own community, go to Make Your Support Group Great.