FAST Club 2015…getting FASTER

Alison Pritchard Orr, MSc. & Dr. Kathy Keiver

Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education

University of the Fraser Valley

The Cost of FASD

Neuropsychological deficits: poor performance in school, the workplace, and an impaired ability to function in society.

Cost: health care, educational and social service resources

Interventions?

The genesis of…FAST Club

a strength-based intervention for children with FASD

Family responses:

“This is one of the few programs she has EVER been able to follow

through with, it has kept her stimulated (but not overly as that can get

too overwhelming for her) and one of the few that she can handle and

manage, she cannot wait to go and never wants to leave, when it is time

to go home. It also helps her to build peer/social relationships in a

dignified manner. You have no idea as to the true and utter joy, her spirit

fills with on the days she attends FAST club.”

”We have missed the program since **** finished it. I wish that there

were more programs like this one, or that my son could just keep going

over and over again. I just can’t say enough positive remarks about this

group and what it did for my son and my family. I hope that it continues

for a long, long time. FAS and FASD need to be recognized as disabilities

in desperate need of programs and funding.”

Some Data….

Improvements in neuropsychological function after FAST Club

Children's Color Trails Test

Response Set subtest of the NEPSY-II

Saccadic eye movement control- effects evident in more complex tasks

Positive program effects in tests of visuospatial processing (Arrows)

FAST Club…getting FASTER

The Physical Activity-Cognition Link

Health benefits plus....

intensity to elicit maximal change in neuropsychological and HPA axis regulation

Sustainability and Access?

Embed in local school within the school day

Direct engagement of stakeholders: families teachers, EAs, school admin

Project Plan:

1. Increase FAST Club’s effectiveness for improvingneuropsychological function

2. Increase accessibility to affected children

3. Suitability for use as an acute exercise program for priming cognitive training

FAST Club…to be continued

Program Plan:

Same great FAST club…only FASTER and embedded in the school curriculum

Measures:

Neuropsychological

Fitness measures

Cortisol (saliva samples) and sleep inventory

Control

Conclusions/Future Directions

Priming cognitive interventions (Caribbean Quest) with exercise (FAST Club) will lead to greater change than exercise or cognitive interventions alone

Thank you