Types of employment problems*
 Easily frustrated - 65%
Poor task comprehension - 57%
Poor judgment - 55%
Social problems - 54%
Anger management - 43%
Unreliable - 42%
Problems with supervisors - 40%
Lying - 33%
* Percentages are approximations
Source: Ann Streissguth, University of Washington
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Services available to help people damaged by alcohol
For some people damaged prenatally by alcohol, holding a job seems nearly impossible.
Of women with fetal alcohol syndrome, 96 percent experience problems with employment, according to a study by the University of Washington.
And more than 70 percent of men with FAS experience the same trouble.
Three-quarters of men with fetal alcohol effects have difficulty on the job, compared with 60 percent of women with FAE.
"Getting and keeping a job can be extraordinarily difficult over the lifetime for many with FAS and FAE," said Ann Streissguth, who has studied the impact of FAS and FAE for more than 25 years at the University of Washington.
But there are programs that help prepare people with prenatal alcohol damage to succeed on the job.
One program, offered by La Frontera Center, is Herbs Etc., which prepares disabled people, including people with FAS, to enter the work force.
Herbs Etc. is a horticulture production and landscape business that teaches skills such as time management and the importance of showing up well-groomed and on time.
About 45 people go through the program each year, earning between $1.65 and $5.15 an hour.
More valuable than the paycheck, however, is the experience that can help on the job.
Without training, many with FAS and FAE have a hard time making it.
Half of the 415 people with FAS and FAE in the University of Washington study had difficulty finding employment.
And more than 60 percent had difficulty keeping a job.
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