AM I A CRAZY PARENT?!!!!!!

HI everyone! My name is Renee. My daughter Juliana was diagnosed with AA in 09/07. She just started Kindergarten. She is such an inspiration in my life. She is so strong. But my question is would it be crazy to seek people willing to come to her school and talk to children and parents about AA to raise awareness? She is only 5, she is kind of aware of her situation and totally cool with it but I just want to make other children, parents and teachers aware. I got a paper sent home from the school nurse, the form was for a child with special needs. My child doesn't have special needs, she is just another child except she doesn't have hair. The form asked what they can do to help, but as we all know as people with alopecia and families that are dealing with other family members, there is NOTHING. That is okay because we are all people and learning to deal and accept. At first it was difficult, more for me than my child. I would love to get in contact with other people to raise awareness in smaller communities(like mine) where people are kind of ignorant to AA. I would love to hear anyone's feedback. Thank You so much. Renee.

Views: 4

Comment by Margie on October 10, 2008 at 1:03am
Hi Renee, My son is 9 and his journey with aa started just a few months ago. Because the hair loss has been so quick and significant we decided we needed to be proactive. We invited the school district nurse to the school and she incorporated into one of the assemblies a section on my son's aa. We went straight for it and she asked who knew Casey. Just about all hands were raised. She then went on to tell everyone what casey was going through and how they can't catch it (I thought that was something that seemed to put a few at easy by the looks of relief they seemed to show). She also went over how do deal with any situations such as teasing that they may witness and realy talked about how since you wouldn't tease someone about allegies or anything like that that obviously you wouldn't tease Casey about his hair. This was absolutely the best decision we could have made. When children are given the facts they are less likely to make them up themselves and are also more able to find the compassion and acceptance. We have only had one situation of teasing but one of Casey's friends told a teacher, the parents were called in and that was the end of it. We used this situation to have Casey really look and see what wonderful friends he has and how they will always stand by and up for him. For us it was the right decision based on the school and general philosophies taught there regarding citizenship. Each person needs to weight their own situation but I will tell you that it can be a great solution.
Comment by Reen on October 10, 2008 at 11:12pm
Great idea!!!! There is NO reason to NOT be proactive!!!! Kids can be so cruel, especially today. So much cruelty comes from not understanding a situation.

I think it's great to get people to know the facts from the get-go. I also commend you for pushing for this because raising awareness is SO critical.
Comment by Nancy Schmelzer on October 12, 2008 at 7:16pm
I think it is a great idea! I have talked with my daughter's class one to two times a year(depending on what was going on with her diagnosis at the time). I always ask Lauren if she wants to be there or not and if she does would she like to talk. She has always chosen to be there and added her comments. The NAAF puts out a video,"why does my hair fall out". We started showing that- had the principle, assistant principal, counselor and anyone else in who wanted to hear and it has been a very positive education for everyone. We have even read little stories-ie the dragon who lost her scales(from NAAF) . We talk about what everyone can do to help Lauren and what they can say if someone is mean or curious. Her brownie troop has now decided to do an eduction poster for the library. Lauren feels like a celebrity and it has really helped her self -esteem. Hope this helps-nancy

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