Friday, September 6, 2002

Robbed in the womb

A Tucson family learns to deal with the effects of fetal alcohol syndrome.

GABRIELLE FIMBRES

Tucson Citizen

As alcohol seeped through his mother's womb, Jordan Wyatt's growing brain shriveled.

Before he drew his first breath, he was robbed of his ability to make good decisions and function normally.

Now 15, Jordan has an aide who tags along with him to his special education classes at Canyon Del Oro High School. He cannot be left alone.

His twin brother, Jason, was damaged by their mother's drinking in pregnancy, as well. The legacy bestowed on Jason is that of anger and learning difficulties.

Jordan has fetal alcohol syndrome. Jason has fetal alcohol effects.

The twins and their family agreed to speak about difficulties in their lives as part of International Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Awareness Day. Bells will ring around the world and in Tucson at St. Augustine Cathedral at 9:09 a.m. Monday - the ninth day of the ninth month, reminding women to abstain from alcohol when pregnant.

Jason said it bothers him that the problems he and his brother share were caused by his mother's drinking. She drank as much as a fifth of vodka a day when she was pregnant with the twins.

"We could have turned out different," said Jason, who hopes to join the Air Force after he graduates from CDO.

The children's father and stepmother, Tom and Ruth Wyatt, took custody of the twins and their brother Brandon, now 18, and sister Chelsea, now 13, seven years ago in Portland, Ore. Their mother had become homeless.

Three weeks after the Wyatts got custody, the children's mother committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. The family moved to Tucson for a fresh start.

Life has not been easy.

Jason looks out for his twin, who is teased by classmates over his speech impediment and other disabilities. While Jordan's IQ is actually higher than Jason's, Jordan's disability is easy to spot. He is at least a foot shorter than his brother and has motor skills difficulties.

"I don't fit in with people," said Jordan, who hopes to work at Costco after he graduates from CDO. "I'm different from other people."

The Wyatts say Jordan will always need an "external brain."

"We have to be that external brain," said Ruth, who married the children's father when they were 4. "It's not that he's a bad boy. His brain has a hard time making good choices."

Earlier this year, Jordan spent two months in detention at Pima County Juvenile Court. He broke into a neighbor's home and stole a cell phone to call a girl in one of his special ed classes. Jordan, who earlier had made threats at school, was sent to juvenile court.

Like most people with FAS, Jordan did not learn from his arrest.

"Three or four days later, he took another cell phone from a teacher's desk," Tom said.

He spent the next two months locked up.

"It was scary," Tom said. "It hurt Jordan a lot. It hurt us a lot."

For many years, the Wyatts felt alone in dealing with the boys' problems.

But when they moved to Tucson, they discovered the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Community Resource Center and its director, Teresa Kellerman.

"I thought, 'Oh, my God. We're not the only ones in the world living with this,'" Ruth recalled.

The Wyatts now hold a monthly support group meeting in their Oro Valley home.

"You really need contact with the outside world so you don't feel so alone," Ruth said.

The Wyatts hope some day Jordan will be able to live on his own. For now, they all do their part to keep him safe from his own poor choices.

Sister Chelsea, 13, was also exposed to alcohol in the womb, but she is a bright, outgoing teen in honors classes.

She spends much of her time helping her brother.

"You've got to help him a lot and do things with him because Jordan doesn't have too many friends," she said. "I'm with him a lot. He's one of my best friends."

Jason and Jordan hang out at lunch, share an auto mechanics class, and enjoy watching movies, skateboarding and playing football and baseball at a nearby park.

The two teens get angry sometimes, knowing their problems were preventable.

"I wish it didn't happen, but it did," Jason said. "I'm just going to have to live with it."

WHAT IS FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME?

Fetal alcohol syndrome can occur when a woman drinks alcohol during pregnancy, causing a host of birth defects.

FAS is the leading known cause of mental retardation. Alcohol causes more problems in pregnancy than any other drug. No amount of alcohol is known to be safe during pregnancy.

Fetal alcohol effects is also caused by drinking in pregnancy. While people with FAE do not have the facial abnormalities of a person with FAS, they frequently have learning and behavior disorders.

About 5,000 babies are born in the United States each year with FAS. As many as 50,000 are born with FAE.

Teresa Kellerman, director of the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Community Resource Center in Tucson and the adoptive mother of a young man with FAS, said in cases of FAE, where the person may look normal, problems can be greater.

"They lack the physical symptoms of full FAS but still have the neurological impairment that places them at high risk of serious problems in their teen and adult years," she said.

"These otherwise bright and insightful young people have poor impulse control and lack good judgment. They are at risk of getting into trouble with the law, of abusing alcohol and other drugs and inappropriate social and sexual behavior, becoming victims or perpetrators or both."

Many become suicidal, she said.

"They want to be good and want to do the right thing, but they make serious errors of judgment and get into trouble again and again," she said. "If we can learn to recognize the problem, we can provide the supports to help them to succeed."