Case Studies

Angelene Bruce

She went from feeling all alone and stigmatized by the professionals that were there to help her, to a fantastic kick-ass advocate who is standing up for herself, her son, and birth mums everywhere.

Anne & Jeff Munson

Jeff and Anne Munson lived in a hormone hurricane with four teens with FASD. There was constant dysregulation, police involvement, and challenges at school.

Since taking the course they have learned not to talk back, how to look after themselves so they can look after their kids, laughed more than they ever have, and Anne has gone from not being heard at the school to training a group of special education assistants.

Aubrey Page

Fostering only through a trauma lens meant missing FASD cues in her children. By taking the CKS course, Aubrey advanced her knowledge through the presentations by leading FASD experts, that not only created better outcomes for her own children but became the platform to launch her own FASD consultation business.

Barb Jones

Barb “Barbell” Jones

Barb is a 62-year-old grandmother raising 3 tweens/teens with a suspected or diagnosed FASD. Homelife was chaotic, she was being pulled in all directions and was told her daughter was lazy. Taking the CKS Coaching program taught her to shift her mindset, gave her strategies that could be applied to any of her kids and helped her move through grief and loss. She now has a calm household, is building a team of support and became such a confident advocate she is teaching SPED staff and advocating for change in her home State. She also took control of her self-care, placing 2nd in a fitness contest! Go Barbell!

Chandra and Jordan Smith

Chandra and Jordan admitted they were living in desperation and constant stress. They questioned their parenting, had others question their parenting, and struggled to understand why their children were acting the way they did despite what they felt was a supportive home environment.

Charmaine Crosier

Uncovering the Confident Caregiver Behind the Introversion

Charmain Crosier’s days were filled with up to five blow ups or rages a day. She signed up for CKS and went from “I don’t know what to do” to learning skills, strategies and tools that resulted in calmer days and hope for her son’s future. Charmaine came out of her shell and found a community of support.

Chris Mcphee

As a developmental psychologist, Chris knew that her son’s reactions were not typical. Told it was her, his attachment or she needed counseling. Once puberty hit, aggression increased, police were involved, and her son moved to a group home. Hope was getting smaller for a bright future for her son. Fear for herself, her daughter and 82-year-old mom was getting bigger. Then she found the CKS Coaching Program. The Community reinforced she was a good parent, and her son was a good kid. She acquired strategies and the confidence to implement them so her son could come home. He is thriving now. She knows as they change and grow the CKS program and community will always be a resource.

Claire Mafranc

Claire did all the things she was supposed to do. She got a diagnosis. She researched and read up on FASD. Joined free online groups. But she needed to take that extra step. To become part of a community that would take her caregiving to the next level by providing specific strategies and the support she was missing as a single mom with few supports. Clair went from wondering how her daughter will survive to how can I coach her to live her best life.

Crystal & Mike Dethlefs

Crystal and Mike Dethlefs successfully raised and launched 4 of their children into adulthood but that did not prepare them for the challenges of raising four children with FASD. Unbeknownst to Mike, Crystal devised a Plan B that detailed how she was going to leave Mike and her family. But then fate intervened and they found the Caregiver Kickstart

Darcie Inkpen

Before finding the CKS Program, Darcie Inkpen and her husband’s marriage and family were in crisis. With four kids, the one diagnosed with FASD was receiving most of their attention. There was aggression, violence, and trips to the hospital. Their life centred around safety plans. Despite studying disability and childhood education, Darcie just couldn’t figure out how to turn things around.

They went from wondering if their daughter would be a grade 2 dropout or living in a residential setting to looking at a future with her doing what she likes. They developed more confidence to advocate with friends, family, professionals, and the school and report things have improved more than 100%

Jenna and Marc

With Marc in the military, Jenna was left to be the main caregiver
for their daughter and the target for defiance and aggression.
Worried about their future, they jumped at the chance to change
the trajectory of their lives. In the program they discovered
community and realized the breakdown in their family cohesion
was due to misunderstanding the symptoms of the disability.
Four years later they remain part of the CKS Coaching program
because they recognize the importance of community. They
have put things in perspective and feel a good future lies ahead
as they implement the strategies they learned to meet each
stage and age for their daughter.

Jennifer and Ray

Ray and Jen Pengelly thought they were doing fine, until they weren’t. Like many who have adopted, they used attachment and trauma interventions. But they didn’t stop the hour-long meltdowns, aggressive behavior, and trips to the E.R.

They feel more confident with tools and strategies that are suited to their children’s individual needs. No longer are they judging themselves by the lens of other parents, they are connecting with a group of parents that are like them and seeing success.

Jennifer Griffin

A Residential Placement Does Not Mean

Connections are Not Needed

As Jennifer’s son entered puberty, his extreme aggression increased. After a failed first placement, judgement from friends, Jennifer took the CKS program, and found the confident and power she didn’t even know she had to fight for her son and his needs. Now I know what I know, because I know it. This group gave me the ability to move from meek and mild to talking and advocating for my son’s needs.

Jennifer Mariano

It’s been a really good year even though it’s been a hard year.

Jennifer and her husband have 5 kids, 2 with suspected FASD. Dealing with violent rages and the justice/residential system left her feeling like a crappy parent, depressed and unable to effectively support her children. Despite knowing her son’s behaviour was not intentional, belonging to the CKS Coaching program gave her the support and access to the resources she needed and leave her feeling more confident in meeting day to day struggles.

Jessica Clos

Jessica suddenly became a single parent after the unexpected death of her husband. She struggled with traditional parenting techniques. Her son struggled in school. Her family blamed her, and her son wasn’t talking to her. Jessica was one of our black screens at first until she found the confidence listening to others. She learned to connect over correct her son. Learning how to advocate not only improved her relationship with her 14-year-old son, it helped her repair the rift and educate her family.

Jody Jordan

First, she stabilized and then she found her passion in mentoring others … in a big way!

With three children on the Spectrum, Jody Jordan needed to first stabilize her home environment. She was then able to develop a community network and gave back by mentoring others and now has a program supporting 80 families! Jody went from an empty bucket to filling her own and helping others fill theirs.

Julie Huntington

Julie Huntington

Julie was struggling to keep her daughter safe from the daily aggression and rages from her son. Julie sought out the education and community the CKS provided and turned the tide. Julie now has the tools and her son is starting a career in culinary arts.

Kaye Mallard

After a disastrous family trip, she found the CKS Coaching Program. With the group’s help, she has been able to shift her parenting style and implement accommodations that support her son.

Kelijo Wright

This grandmother sought out answers for her grandson but discovered some for her son and now helps other grandparents and kinship caregivers

Kelijo started her journey looking for answers for her 9-year-old grandson. While at a seminar, her son passed her a brochure where he circled every secondary disability for FASD listed and asked, “Why do I have all these?” The CKS program helped her to not only re-establish her relationship with 35-year-old son but she is also now better prepared to help her grandson avoid future risk factors. This confidence prompted her to establish a program to help other grandparents and kinship caregivers navigate caring for an individual with FASD.

Kelly Rosbender

Kelly Rosenbender is a single mom working full time and raising a 13-year-old daughter. Despite getting a diagnosis and referrals for service for her daughter, she still felt judged, isolated and without tools or knowledge to advocate. Until she joined the CKS Coaching Program and started listening and learning from others around the world. She went from not being able see beyond the next week, but now has realistic hope for the future for herself and her daughter. I can’t wait to see what she’s like as an adult.

Kristen Ericksen

Kristen felt her career in family nursing would equip her to raise children with special needs It didn’t. She felt like she was drowning. People were throwing sticks, but it wasn’t the sticks needed. Until she joined the CKS Coaching program to support another mom she met. It wasn't long until Kristen found comfort from group and knowledge from the experts. She went from sitting in a parking lot on a black screen, to improving her relationship with her twins and appearing on the news to raise FASD awareness.

Laura Boyer

An 18-year-old with an FASD diagnois and a 15-year-old with suspected. While both have challenges, it was the older boy that needed the most interventions. They tried Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Counselling all with mixed results. When his anxiety and overwhelm became so much he would shut down and wouldn’t talk to anyone.

Where she felt like she was drowning, she enjoys being a mom again and can laugh at some of the stuff that made her mad. By responding to, accommodating and advocating for their individual needs, her boys are thriving, as well as meeting and exceeding developmental milestones.

Lisa Davis

Lisa Davis and her husband were parenting her great niece who had an alphabet soup of diagnosis, and confirmation of substance exposure but not prenatal alcohol. At home, there were rages, stealing, and confabulation.

Even though she felt overwhelmed at first having to shift from a completely different parenting style she’d used successfully for 20 years, it paid off. There have been no rages for 2 years.

Lori Hazelwood

When the daycare provider told Lori that her daughter was the worst child she had seen in 20 years, and all the parents signed a petition to get her out of the daycare, she knew the escalating behaviour was not typical development.

After pulling her daughter out of school for a year, Lori joined the CKS Coaching program. Immediately she knew this is where she fits in, and where her daughter fits in.

Mary Byrnes

Mary Byrnes and her husband, they were a family in crisis with their 13-year-old son. They felt like terrible parents. There was elopement, physical aggression, property damage and assaults. Mary wondered why she could teach and help other kids with neurodiverse needs, but not her own son.

Before all joy was sucked out with total chaos and stress. Now the three of them hang out and have fun. In fact, she learned so much she was able to go from only being able to spend 2 days alone with her son at the cottage to spend 2 weeks alone with him. She learned this is a marathon, not a sprint. They have hope, laughter, grace, empathy and compassion. And it’s not just from them. Their son is mirroring it back to them.

Michelle Trager

Michelle Trager and her husband adopted their son, they were told there may be issues but no one mentioned FASD. His behaviour escalated so much he became involved with the juvenile justice and was eventually placed into a residential treatment program. 

Despite trying to convince herself otherwise, she cautiously jumped in. Michelle was at first one of our ‘black screen’ participants in the Coaching Calls, but soon she was jumping in helping others, sharing her story, learning and making changes to help her son and her family. She has become one of our most powerful advocates. She now serves on various advisory boards and her congresswoman called her to talk about the FASD Respect Act.

Nancy Weinstein

Nanci had raised two girls and fostered others and just couldn’t understand why her old parenting model was not working on her child. As a teacher she also felt she should know better, have more patience but was at her breaking point. After coming across the fASD Caregiver Success page she realized her son had been misdiagnosed and she went on a path to learn as much as she could through the CKS program and emerged the other side owning that she was the expert on her child.

Ngaire Meadows

 As a research scientist in the health care field, Ngaire thought she knew everything, but now understands how little she knew. With three girls on the Spectrum, it felt like WW3 in the home with rages, outburst, and mental health concerns. Combining what she learned in the CKS Coaching program with her research background, she set goals and applied a scientific analysis to measure progress. Her unrealistic expectations have been shelved and they are celebrating a year of no physical aggression, thanks to the education, coaching and support she has received in the CKS. 

Niki Marshall

Single mom Niki was working full time, studying full time and barely coping, and having no one to turn to when her son was floundering, not knowing he had the wrong diagnosis and interventions. Overcoming her trepidation as a birth mom, she joined the CKS community and developed the confidence and knowledge to set him up so he can handle things and how to handle things when he can’t.

Rubi & Carl R

Rubi and Carl have a 24-year-old son they adopted from Russia. And while they felt like his first decade was a “cake-walk” compared to other families’ experiences, once he hit puberty, changed schools in grade six, the demands placed on him were greater than his capacity to cope.

They now understand their son’s behaviour isn’t willful and learned that their job wasn’t to fix him, but to change themselves. In the process of doing that their son found confidence to return to school, graduate a college course and they reconnected with lifelong friends.

Ryan Jolly

Even fostering 50+ kids with diverse needs didn’t prepare Ryan Jolly, a single mom to parent four children with brain injuries – 2 with FASD and 2 who are medically fragile. She had access to professionals and services, but they didn’t understand. Despite using all the tried and tested interventions, nothing was working. It is now. See how Ryan is doing it. 

Sara & Brad Evans

Brad and Sara Evans went from a loud, outgoing family involved in their community, to questioning why they ever left the house. Everybody knew them and loved them. Until they adopted their young great-niece and nephew. They anticipated challenges, because of the children’s background, but because they didn’t know about fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, they were not prepared for the challenges they faced.

In the beginning, it was like walking on eggshells every day. They expected their niece and nephew to function like their 5 bio kids, including their 3 and 5-year-olds, and respond to the same parenting strategies, but they did nor could not.

It doesn’t mean that there are no struggles. But now a difficult day doesn’t have to turn into a difficult few days, weeks, or months. They have strategies in place that help them prevent, accommodate, or pivot.