2026 Education and FASD International Conference • Oct 23, 2026

Underestimated and Overstimulated: Inside a Lifetime of Learning with FASD

12:00PM to 12:40PM PDT / 40min

As a lifelong learner and researcher with FASD, I move beyond pedagogy to share what learning feels like from the learner’s side of the desk. Blending story and research, this session brings participants inside memory challenges, sensory overload, social anxiety, masking, and the weight of expectations across my educational lifespan. I called my parents to pick me up from school because I did not want to be there, yet I graduated at the top of my class through every degree. Neither experience tells the whole story of me as a learner, nor can a transcript tell us whether a learner is understood, valued, supported, or thriving. Students with FASD can be missed, misunderstood, or misdiagnosed when individual challenges are recognized without understanding the neurodevelopmental differences connecting them. Moving beyond behavior management and one-size-fits-all strategies, this session explores individualized supports that honor each learner’s strengths, challenges, needs, and ways of learning.