#020 Brian Philcox, the Ignorant FASD Philosopher

With his wife Bonnie Buxton, he co-founded FASworld, a charity dedicated to raising awareness for FASD and supporting caregivers. Bonnie is author of Damaged Angels, one of the most influential books to this day on Fetal Alcohol. In addition to being parents of two daughters, including one on the Spectrum, distinguished careers and work in the FASD field, they developed the idea of the first FASday, and with assistance from Teresa Kellerman in the United States, introduced it to the world in 1999.

In this episode Brian shares:

• Why he calls himself the ignorant FASD philosopher
• Ideas about mindset, unrequited love and ambiguous loss
• How he is coping in isolation, without his beloved Bonnie
• The story of how Cleo and Colette completed their family
• Their parenting philosophy and his advice to parents and caregivers
• Previous, ongoing and future advocacy efforts in his hometown province of Ontario, Canada and around the world.

Some things I can control and some things I can't. And if I'm going to be totally obsessed by the things I can't control, I'm going to make a mess of my mind and my health. So I have learned that things that are beyond my control while I might be interested in, there is no point in me getting all choked up about it because I can't do anything about it.

I think you will find hope, validation and success listening to the story of Colette’s journey from a bright, bouncy little girl, to living on the streets, addicted to crack, becoming a parent, relinquishing her parental duties and coming full circle to embracing motherhood for her two boys with unwavering support from Bonnie and Brian.

You will no doubt be mesmerized by one of the founding fathers of FASD advocacy. I will be so lucky to have just half the energy, zeal and jovial presence this man has, all while staying humble and true to his vision of prevention and awareness for FASD. 

And he is not done yet. He reveals his next big project:

We have been at this for 23 years and yet we have not made progress. Students in law, medicine, education and social sciences are still not learning about FASD before graduating. We need to teach children that alcohol and pregnancy is a no go. There is no media coverage on the fantastic research. Our communication is not sufficient. 

Show Notes:

FASworld:

 https://www.fasworld.com/

FASDay:

https://www.fasworld.com/fasd-resources/fasday-get-involved/

Damaged Angels, by Bonnie Buxton

https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Angels-Adoptive-Understand-Pregnancy/dp/0786715502

Contact: 

[email protected]