Andrew is a normal-looking 5-year-old boy who is having some behavioral difficulties. Although he tries to be a good kid, he is sometimes so impulsive that he gets into trouble. Kara, his mother, cannot understand why he is impulsive. She reads all of the parenting books she can get her hands on and has set, and enforced, fair guidelines for his behavior. Andrew's behavior is puzzling to her. Kara's mother, who happens to be a researcher in the field of prenatal development, is not very puzzled by the situation at all. She speculates that Andrew's behavior is a result of Kara drinking small amounts of alcohol throughout her pregnancy, even when she advised Kara not to. Kara's mother is likely concerned about _____

In psychology and medicine, the term fetal alcohol spectrum disorders refers to the symptoms that occur in someone whose mother drank alcohol while she was pregnant.

This is a spectrum, so we are talking about a continuum where people might experience a lot of symptoms or just a few. However, in general, these disorders include physical problems and behavioral problems as well as learning difficulties. Most of the effects of Fetal alcohol disorders are not reversible.

In this example, Andrew has behavioral difficulties (impulsiveness) and her mother drank small amounts of alcohol throughout all her pregnancy, therefore, it is likely possible that these difficulties are a sign of fetal alcohol disorder.