We have been pleased by the enthusiasm that volunteers from New Zealand to northern Canada have expressed for our new wearable symbol, the "FAS Knot." Each FAS Knot can be easily made in about a minute, for less than ten cents, and can be used as a fund-raiser ($2-$3 each) or given away as promotion.

This piece of knotted cord was designed in memory of Abel Dorris, 1968-1991, whose brief and poignant life resulted in the groundbreaking 1989 book about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, "The Broken Cord," written by his father, Michael Dorris, 1945-1997.

The broken cord may refer to the umbilical cord, the spinal cord, the nervous system, the cord between the generations, or the cable on an elevator. Michael Dorris wrote that if we back off on our children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Fetal Alcohol Effects, they will sink like an elevator once the cable is snapped.

Ten years later, a loving community around the world is reconnecting the broken cord, and the FAS Knot is our symbol. The cord is tied in a square knot, sometimes called a reef knot, the favored knot for reconnecting a broken line or cord. The knot is stronger than the cord itself, and cannot be broken or snapped.

To make the FAS Knot, we suggest an eight-inch piece of 3/16" white cord (figure #1), available in most hardware stores for a few cents per foot. You make a circle approximately the size of your thumb (figure #2), then tie right over left and under (figure #3); left over right and under. It should look like two loops intertwined(figure #4).

By choosing a cord instead of a ribbon, we are separating ourselves from all of the other disorders. We are not just another cause trying to raise money -- we represent those millions of individuals and their families who have gone unrecognized, unidentified, neglected on this continent and throughout the world.

The circle symbolizes the womb, a baby's head, the human brain, the earth. And we, a planet-size network of people who care about people living with FAS, are the knot that will make them whole. If women did not drink in pregnancy, FAS would be totally eliminated. Our long-range goal is to rename this small piece of cord, "The FAS Not!"