CHRISTOPHER'S stuck himself in the arm with a needle he found in the schoolyard -- twice. He's gotten into fights, hit teachers and started fires inside and outside the school.

The 13-year-old, diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, has already been in trouble with the law and suspended from school.

Christopher's 10-year-old brother Ryan, who also has FAS, is a model student.

Their adoptive mother, Vale Surbey, says the brothers illustrate the two paths people with FAS can take. Too often they end up like Christopher -- diagnosed too late, then cut loose without a safety net when they reach adolescence. They often land in prison -- "guests of the state," as she puts it.

About 25 per cent of the prison population is fetal alcohol-affected, said Zenon Liasakowski, prevention education consultant for the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba, citing a study in British Columbia.

"It's like putting your seven-year-old in jail," said defence lawyer Martin Glazer, who has represented FAS clients whose central nervous systems have been damaged in a number of ways. "Prison is the worst place for people with fetal alcohol syndrome."

Like people with Alzheimer's disease and other brain disorders, Christopher can exhibit some bizarre, dangerous behaviour and his condition isn't going to get better.

But unlike Alzheimer's victims, he's often blamed for his brain-damaged actions, said Surbey, who adopted him at age 2 1/2 after he was apprehended from an abusive home.

She remembers the time Christopher played chicken with vehicles on Jefferson Avenue near their home and got hit by a car. A while later, he stole a bike and rode it recklessly through traffic.

He didn't learn the first time because he can't, said his mom.

His brain cannot compute the consequences of his actions. When well-meaning teachers and authority figures think they're going to "teach him a lesson" they're wasting their time.

And there are "hundreds and hundreds" of children like him in Winnipeg, said Surbey, who founded an on-line information network for FAS parents and caregivers called FASlink.

"Parents need support for the myriad behavioural problems and physical disabilities," said Leilani Buschau, executive director of the Fetal Alcohol Family Association of Manitoba.

Surbey still has hope for Ryan. He attended a sold-out national FAS conference in Vancouver entitled Building Hope last month.

Ryan has become a national superstar in FAS circles as the guest of honour at a Health Canada-sponsored dinner and was interviewed as one of the subjects of a book about FAS.

He was two weeks old when he was placed with Surbey and her husband Vince. He likes school, his best friend is Joshua, his hobby is Game Boy. He likes indoor soccer and is an excellent swimmer. Math and science are his favourite subjects. He's been told he's university material.

He's so special because he's so "normal", thanks to having every available intervention from birth, says his mom. She's hoping support systems will develop to see him through adulthood.

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