Dale Sale, Ana Hernandez, Kate Hardman

James Dixon, Father Jessica Nordeen, Mother Shelia Michaels, M.D. Geraldine Trainor, Social Services Gregory Buchner, M.D. Andrew Hunt, parent of child with FAS Kathy Nordeen, Mother of Jessica Seth Dixon, son of Jessica and James with FAS

Jessica Nordeen got pregnant April of her senior year with James Dixon During her pregnancy she drank heavily in the first three months Continued to drink after she realized she was pregnant James and Jessica’s mother warned her about the effects of drinking while pregnant Yet she still continued to drink with friends and James on the weekends

Seth was born Lagged in development: Small, irritable, fussy, very active, easily distracted, and had different facial features James mother became caretaker After 3 years James and Jessica got a divorce and James received sole custody of Seth Seth's kindergarten year he was diagnosed mildly retarded with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Jessica’s grandfather died and she received inheritance from his sold house Jessica refused to help pay for a trust fund, psychological, medical, special education, and any future expenses for Seth James sued Jessica for negligence because of her excessive drinking while pregnant

Evaluated Seth with Dr. Phillip Wilson, a psychologist Together confirmed the diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Seth’s Symptoms she discovered: low birth weight of four pounds, fourteen ounces, fifteen inches long extremely sociable, hyperactive Impulsive enough to place himself in dangerous situations Gross motor skills not fully developed which he works with a therapist to fix Mildly retarded She said after Jessica admitted to drinking heavily during the first three months, “Research has shown that drinking while pregnant can be very harmful, especially in the first three months, when the formation of the body organs takes place”

Determined: Seth is friendly but very hyperactive He has a very short attention span and is challenging to take care for James often feels stuck in a situation without enough financial support He is very concerned about the future and planning for the kind of care Seth will need Seth will always need to live in some sort of assisted living Teachers think he may have hearing impairment

Gave Jessica some information about alcohol and pregnancy to read He had no way of telling how much Jessica drank Isn’t sure he could have found an alcohol treatment program that would take a pregnant teenager

Parent of child with FAS His wife is an alcoholic and drank heavily while pregnant with his son Feels angry with his wife but got past it for his sons sake He always has to keep his eye on Bobby because he never knows what he is going to do Part of FAS, impulsive behavior He has learned a lot from teachers about how to help him Raising Bobby has probably made him a better person

didnt know she was pregnant until three months along Drank a lot at that time Drank up to six beers a night Continued to drink. Knew about not drinking while pregnant but did not care Doctor gave her a pamphlet but was not interested in reading it Knew that if she drank a lot during pregnancy it might affect the baby, but still only got really drunk a couple of times Mom warned her if she drank so much the baby could end up retarded, still did not listen James tried to get her to stop, but she blamed James and her friends because they drank around her She didn’t mean to hurt the baby, but continued to drink Drank because she was with her friends or because she was depressed

Jessica should be found GUILTY Showed negligence by being aware of what she was doing yet still continuing to do it She knew the harm drinking would bring to her baby but continued to drink Also, broke the law the entire time she was drinking by drinking under the age of 21