This is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day.
FIREFLY Kenora-Rainy River staff are marking the occasion by wearing red shoes today.
FASD is a lifelong disability that affects the brain and body of people who were exposed to alcohol in the womb.
FIREFLY explains the Red Shoes campaign and its significance on September 9:
Why Red Shoes?
RJ Formanek is an adult with FASD and the founder of the very successful Facebook support group
called Flying with Broken Wings. RJ decided to wear RED SHOES to stand out, BE noticed and have some
FUN while starting the FASD conversation with strangers in 2013. Back then, it was all about:
• Turning invisibility into visibility
• Creating conversation
• Changing stigma into understanding and acceptance
Why September 9th?
The symbolism of using the 9th day of the 9th month is the 9 months of pregnancy. Early in 1999, a small
group of parents raising children impacted by FASD began to talk about how they might make a
difference. They were frustrated by the lack of awareness of FASD by both professionals and the public,
and they felt that if more people knew about FASD perhaps it would prevent a baby from being exposed
prenatally to alcohol. Thanks to the work of this group, FASD Awareness Day is celebrated globally every
September.
Approximately 4% if Canadians have FASD.
