2026 Education and FASD International Conference • Oct 23, 2026

Understanding Mental Health Risk and Resilience in Children with FASD: A Whole-Body Perspective

12:45PM to 1:10PM PDT / 25min

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) experience highly variable mental health and behavioural outcomes. While some children experience substantial challenges with anxiety, mood, and emotional regulation, others show remarkable resilience. Understanding the factors that contribute to these different trajectories may help us move beyond a one-size-fits-all view of FASD and toward more individualized, strengths-based supports.

This presentation will share emerging findings from the University of Calgary’s IMMUNE-HERO study, which examines mental health alongside immune, physiological, and whole-body health in children with FASD. We explore how differences in biological systems may contribute to vulnerability or resilience to mental health challenges, and why behaviours observed at school may reflect much more than what is happening in the brain alone. We will also introduce our emerging work examining the gut microbiome and gut–brain–immune pathways as potential contributors to mental health and wellbeing in FASD.

Together, these findings highlight FASD as a whole-body condition and provide a new lens for understanding individual differences among learners. Implications for recognizing and supporting mental health, wellbeing, and resilience in educational settings will be discussed.