Project sheds light on disability born of alcohol

[icymist]

Tuesday, April 5, 2005

Project sheds light on disability born of alcohol
Afflicted at risk of trouble with the legal system

By TRACY JOHNSON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

When police questioned Gabe Baddeley about a fire set in the teachers' lounge of the local high school, he said he did it.

At first, he was wrong on some of the details. But he bent his description of the crime to fit what Prosser police told him.

He'd already served a short jail sentence by the time he was exonerated.

Baddeley, 23, suffers from the effects of a mother who drank alcohol while pregnant. Being highly suggestible and overly willing to tell authorities what he thinks they want to hear are symptoms.

And his case is just one reason University of Washington researchers want to identify people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders who have run-ins with the law -- and most of them do -- to better address their needs and help them stay out of trouble.

The federally funded project -- involving King County prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, mental health professionals and others -- is aimed at recognizing the disability for what it is: brain damage that makes people more likely to end up in court and less able to navigate the system when they do
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/218817_fetal05.html