Meet Lara Crutchfield

Lara Crutchfield is a Psychology major at Sinclair Community College, who has made her way from Paso Robles, Calif. to Franklin, Ohio; where she met and married Nick, her husband of ten years. She is also the mother of a daughter, Maya, 8 and a son, Nicholas, 7. Crutchfield’s career goal is to earn a Ph.D. in Psychology to become a fetal alcohol specialist to diagnose and treat children who are afflicted with fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Crutchfield’s son, Nicholas was adopted at birth and diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome. Nicholas suffers from numerous birth defects, along with many psychological and behavioral problems as a direct result of his exposure to alcohol in the womb.

“Being a parent of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome is complicated, rewarding and heartbreaking all at the same time.  It’s rewarding to know that we can be positive people in his life and to watch him overcome some of his struggles,” Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield arms herself with patience, compassion and love which make her job as a parent of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome a little easier.

“No amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy,” is Crutchfield’s mantra and she proudly wears a “049” (zero alcohol for nine months) fetal alcohol syndrome awareness bracelet that lets people know just that.

As a self-educated advocate for children with fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, Crutchfield strives to educate as many people as possible about the 100 percent preventable disease.  Crutchfield connects parents to each other and resources to start a dialog about fetal alcohol syndrome.  Crutchfield believes that if more people were educated about the disease then it would be less of a problem.

“I don’t waste an opportunity to educate people about the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol,” Crutchfield said. “I challenge people to think unconventionally to lead to real change in preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.”

Crutchfield and her family combined their love for travel with her passion for fetal alcohol syndrome awareness last summer, when they traded items collected on a three-week trek from Ohio to California. The Crutchfield family then sold the final item on eBay to benefit a little girl with fetal alcohol syndrome. They started with a #2 pencil, traded for five different items and ended with a piece of pottery, which they auctioned to make a $20 donation.

“It wasn’t much, but it was still something,” Crutchfield said.