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What to Tell My Daughter?
I have a 6 year old daughter who has alopecia. She has just started school and is having a difficult time understanding how to cope with her differences and with the other children noticing her - even when wearing a wig. How do I help her to get used to this situation?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by rj, Co-founder on
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Sharing this coloring book with your daughter and her schoolmates may help. It would also help to speak with the wonderful people at the Children Alopecia Project.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy on
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Hi Annette, I am sorry to hear your daughter is having a hard time coping with her Alopecia. I just read your post to my 7 yr old daughter and asked her what advice she'd give. From the words of Samantha, she said "I would tell her daughter to just go with it. It does not matter." From day one, at age 5 we were very upfront with Samantha about her hair loss and all the scenarios. We also have encouraged her to participate in activities that she loves to keep her self-confidence and self-esteem high. I think it is important to tell your daughter that she is not different from any child her own age, that she can do all the same things. That everyone's appearance is different. That kids like different things. Give examples of that. We have always just went about living her lives and not letting the hair thing get in the way . I have explained Sam's hair loss as a visible allergy. Some kids are allergic to peanut butter or dairy products. Sam is allergic to her hair and you can see it. I strongly suggest contacted the wwww.childrensalopeicaproject.org. They may be able to help you find a family in your area and offer you some good resources to educate your daughter and her classmates. The one thing we have never done is stop Samantha from just doing everything her child age does. Continue to support and encourage your child and surround her by people that can be positive influences in her life.
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Permalink Reply by terri on
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Have you sent out a letter yet to all of the parents of the children at her school yet? We send out a letter each year in Claudia's school and the parents get to talk with the children prior to school beginning so my daughter isn't innundated with the stares and questions.
We also did a lot of role playing with her to help prepare her how to answer questions and then redirect the question. For example, "Why don't you have hair?" and Claudia would explain briefly that she has alopecia and she is healthy. Then she would say something like, "I like dogs. Do you have any pets?" Or "Do you want to play hide and seek?"
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