Not Lying... Confabulating

Damage to the function of the frontal lobes in the brain means that a person with FASD may confabulate – make up things that may not be true.  At FASD-CAN we like to refer to this as "honestly lying".

It is not deliberately setting out to say something they know is not true - that is lying.  It's a specific behaviour based on a neurological condition – 'faulty wiring' in the brain. The affected person has trouble basing what they say in reality and checking it against the evidence. Even confronted with witness evidence they will still maintain their version of events. But why? 

When they have forgotten and cannot access their memory 'filing cabinet', when they are confused, or when they are in a heightened emotional state where they cannot access the 'thinking and regulating' parts of the brain (when essentially this part of the brain has temporarily shut down),  they may fill in those memory blanks. 

They do this to please whoever is listening, or because they don't know but don't want to seem stupid, or because they think that is the answer someone wants from them, or because they believe that is what they would have done in the circumstances. 

Confabulation is when people with FASD really believe at the time that what they are saying is the truth.

For this reason it can be very convincing! In fact they have actually created a 'faulty' memory to make sense of a situation they can't remember. It is only later, often days or weeks later, that they may accurately remember what happened, if at all.

Confabulation is a feature of a brain-based deficit of reasoning and therefore when a young person says things that turn out not to be true it is pointless trying to reason with them. It is best not to pick up on it, but store it away for further investigation and verification. This does not mean that we should not believe what they say ... but a large grain of salt is required.

Young people and older people with FASD have often confessed to crimes they have not committed so as to be agreeable and they get easily confused when questioned using complex language or leading questions. They are not devious or sophisticated, and they will take things at face value and do not realise the intentions of others – for instance in situations where others may be blaming them for something they have not done.

Sad teenager anonymousSocial struggles

Young people with FASD want to be liked and they struggle to form and maintain friendships because they miss social cues and can behave in a socially immature and inappropriate ways because of their brain damage. They may say things to try to impress others without realising the implications.

They are also often made scapegoats by others due to their naivety and are prone to acting under the instructions of more sophisticated peers. They are easily victimised by individual and systems. Dysmaturity is a primary feature of the disability so they require you to put in place expectations of them as a much younger child. 

They also lack reserve so can be overly open and honest, disclosing things about themselves when it masy not be in their best interests to do so.  For this reason they need responsible adult assistance when they run into difficulties.

For the welfare of young people with FASD it is vital to have open communication and good collaboration between school and home so that all are working to best support the young disabled person across their entire day. It is best for one well informed person at school, usually the SENCO to manage situations that may arise so that solutions can be quickly found and problems averted.

Our thanks to Dr Valerie McGinn PhD (Paediatric Neuropsychologist and FASD Specialist) for her input to this information.