NCJ Number
156618
Editor(s)
S L Elvik
Date Published
1993
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Three papers on the topic of infants and children prenatally exposed to drugs and alcohol address the primary care of the drug- exposed infant, the effects of prenatal drug use on toddlers, and preschool victims of parental substance abuse.
Abstract
The paper on the primary care of the drug-exposed infant advises that medical personnel who diagnose and treat such infants must be attention to eliciting a thorough history, close monitoring of growth and development, coordination of referrals, and parent/caregiver education and support. The practitioner can also help by speaking out about the misconceptions created by media sensationalism regarding these children. In discussing the effects of prenatal drug use on toddlers, a paper notes that toddlers exposed to drugs are often unable to show strong feelings of pleasure, anger, or distress at separation. They show an inability to play, worsened by the mother's continued addiction and associated by lack of attention to the child. The child's play is characterized by scattering, batting, picking up, and putting down toys rather than sustained combining of toys, fantasy play, or curious exploration. Older toddlers may be hyperactive, developmentally delayed, aggressive, and difficulty in learning from previous experience. The third paper focuses on the Preschool Victims of Substance Abuse Project, which is a 3-year collaboration between the school district of Philadelphia/Prekindergarten Head Start Program and the Learning Center of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. The project has observed preschool children with drug-abusing mothers having severe impulse control problems, trouble sustaining attention, and extreme difficulty in forming attachments to both children and adults. Classroom intervention used in the project include coaching, modeling, cross-age tutoring, peer tutoring, cooperative learning, parent training, and teacher- initiated support. References accompany each paper.