FASD Elephant | Michael Harris Coaching
You Don't Need Another Lecture on Self-Care. You Need Something Real.
Michael Harris 
Caregiving in the world of FASD and other high-needs conditions asks more of people than most systems acknowledge. Over time, many caregivers find themselves doing everything “right” while feeling less and less like themselves. They show up.They keep going.They still love their child. And yet something feels muted, flat, or unreachable. This experience has a … Read more
Not Just Another Parenting Manual “A compassionate, practical guide that speaks directly to caregivers’ hearts and minds” ~ Michael Harris Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you to defray costs of this website. As both a parent of … Read more
In the unique and often misunderstood world of parenting children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), caregivers frequently face a challenging phenomenon known as blocked care. This issue arises not from a lack of love or effort, but from an ongoing cycle of adversarial parent-child interactions that cause caregivers to lose touch with their feelings … Read more
Hello – This blog post is for Proof Alliance attendees who want to download slides and the handout for my presentation “The FASD Parenting Mindset: Eight Habits That Will Upgrade Your Parenting from Stuck to Unstoppable” Anyone finding this post is welcome to download these, however, they might not make 100% sense without hearing the … Read more
Do Your Kids Make You Late? More times than you can count?
If you’re a foster or adoptive parent and have struggled with chronic lateness from FASD, this story shares mistakes to avoid and is for you.
DSM-5 and FASD Explained: Our friends at the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (also known as POPFASD) just posted a video of Dr. Christine Lilley explaining the ins-and-outs of diagnosing an FASD with the DSM-5 (the book that psychiatrists and psychologists use to diagnose conditions).
A Happy New Year Full of Empathy and Strength! Last night, I had a great dinner with a old friend. We hadn’t seen each other in quite a while though, and this morning I realized we’d drifted because I’ve avoided him. Whenever we’d chat over the past few years, he’d start giving unsolicited, unhelpful parenting … Read more
One day last year, a wish for FASD occurred to me. I was attending a great foster care training and another participant had a coffee mug with a quote I hadn’t heard but immediately liked: “It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change” ~ from Alice in Wonderland, 1951 Disney … Read more
Linda Rosenbaum Shares Her Insights as an FASD Caregiver in Not Exactly As Planned Hi and welcome to the December FASD Elephant Podcast! Linda Rosenbaum has written a new memoir titled Not Exactly As Planned: A Memoir of Adoption, Secrets and Abiding Love. It’s a great holiday gift idea for caregivers certainly, but also for professionals. I … Read more
FASD and Praise: Working with People-Pleasers Kids with FASD who “people please” are often a pleasure to be around, but we need to help them internalize praise, too. Even though they don’t outright reject praise, it doesn’t stay with them either, so it’s hard for them to build healthy self-esteem just like the praise rejectors, … Read more