There are definite clinical benefits to accurately distinguishing children with FASD from non-exposed children with ADHD. To this end, successful identification of distinct clinical populations requires greater understanding of the complex relationship between ADHD and neuropsychological performance in children with and without prenatal exposure. There is evidence of greater positive outcomes for children with prenatal alcohol exposure who are identified and treated early (Adnams, et al., 2007; Paley & O'Connor, 2009; Yazdani, Motz, & Koren, 2009) and certain medications have different treatment efficacies between alcohol-exposed and non-exposed children with ADHD (Coles, et al., 1997; Oesterheld et al., 1998). Clinically, these findings demonstrate task-dependent patterns of impairment across clinical groups, with alcohol-exposed children demonstrating more severe verbal and perceptual deficits compared to children with ADHD. Both groups demonstrated executive function deficits. Further investigation of the underlying mechanisms of these domains may facilitate better characterization of the clinical similarities and differences between groups and lead to targeted and specialized interventions for these highly prevalent clinical groups.
