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What to tell son to tell his friends about my alopecia?
So I am quite comfortable with my alopecia. I have always been pretty good with it. My son does not have alopecia. He is 6 and in grade 1. It is starting to come up here and there that his mom does not have hair.
The other kids did not know (they do know me I have volunteered many many times in the class). Most people in our town know and it is not a big deal. But now when my son says in class that his mom is bald (eg. they were talking about lice and he said well my mom has no hair so then what?)., and I know the kids are starting to aski him about it. I don't want them to tease him at all about it.
Do you think I should ask the teacher to read something about alopecia to the class? Or read it myself since I have volunteered so much?
What other ideas do you have, I want to get it out there and let them know it is ok and not a big deal and hope that it does not affect my son.
Thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Tallgirl on
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Why don't you and the teacher invent some role-playing scenarios to SHOW the kids...and your son...how to handle encounters, teases, questions, etc? Stick to three, then have the students offer up ideas and act out sensible responses for them. By having an investment in participation, they will remember it longer, too!
---A Teacher
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Permalink Reply by Erin on
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Good idea Tallgirl, that might be a good lesson for the kids about accepting all kinds of people and not just dealing with alopecia.
Does anyone know of any kids books to do with alopecia?
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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Hi Erin,
I too have a 1st grader and a 5th grader. I guess if you're comfortable then just being open helps others that don't understand feel comfortable to ask questions. Unless you are coming to school without hair then i don't really think theres much to say. Maybe just you have alopecia and what it is... I told my oldest child's teacher first, yrs ago just becuse i didn't want her to think that i had cancer. that is was just my hair falling out no biggie just incase she notice i changed my hair or somthing..lol now everyone at the school that i talk with knows what's going on. I actually got to help with a 6th grader that has alopecia too and wears wigs. I think it really helps her know she's not alone and that she can have totally normal life. As for telling your childs friends parents i just make she they know they can't catch it becuse if they could my whole fmaily would be hairless lol.. that sometime i wear my scarfs or change my hair. Kids are pretty easy to tell they don't really care much in first grade.
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Permalink Reply by Daria on
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Hi. I've got three daughters ages 7, 10 and 12. I also used to run a daycare center with kids ranging in age from 3 months to 12 years and I was a co-leader of my daughter's brownie troop. So, bottom line....lots of experience with kids!!! And what I've found is that when they're young, they're very understanding. They're blunt...."Hey, why don't you have any hair?" but they don't mean any harm and I can honestly say that not one of them ever teased me or any of my children. I still worry sometimes though about embarassing my kids (heck, my parents used to embarass me and they HAD hair!!!) but I think because it's a medical condition, they've never had a problem with it. I think reading a book is a good idea (we've got princess alopecia and that's kind of cute). When I was brownie leader, my co-leader did something that was kind of like the book -- I was nervous about going camping with all the kids because there was NO way I was going to wear a wig in the woods! She explained to everybody about my alopecia and that I'd be wearing a bandana and she actually did a bandana-tying class one night as a scout activity!!! I was so touched and the kids thought it was really cool and they all wore their new bandanas camping!! I currently live in Delaware and have thought about asking the former Miss Delaware (who has alopecia) to maybe come speak at an assembly. I think when kids understand whats going on, they're really quite understanding and kind. So I don't think you need to worry about the kids teasing your son -- but at the same time, I think educating them about your situation doesn't hurt!
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