The FASD Project 2021

Directed by Justin Shepherd

This short film is a grass-roots social awareness documentary. The topic is the most common, yet unseen, and preventable disability in the United States: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). FASD is more common than autism, down syndrome and spina bifida combined, yet the only one that is preventable. Why don't we all know about FASD? The blinders are pulled over our eyes because of intense alcohol lobbying to minimize the realities of alcohol's harm, the harmful stigma around alcohol consumption in pregnancy, and a 'mommy juice' promoting culture. When the lockdown happened in 2020, researchers documented a 41% increase in drinking among women in the US. We are facing an epidemic of developmental disability in our future unborn children, and this short documentary is a real-time reflection of how we can stop it. Prevention will take all of us working together and stepping into the light of FASD awareness.