hello, my daughter Paige is 11 now.  has had alopecia since she was 5. her hair comes and goes. we are finally in a place where it doesn't rule our world.  she handles it like such a trooper.  right now, she has about 10% of her hair.  she'll wear it in a side pony but bald spots are showing all over the place.  most of her classmates are aware and really never say too much about it.  when we are in unfamiliar places, I notice people looking at her, but she doesn't pay it much mind.  we are extremely lucky that she has this confidence, and hoping it continues as she enters her teenage years.  we recently took a drastic approach to her eating habits.  she's been gluten free for a while, but we always let her cheat--now we are GF, dairy and red meat free--eating only clean food.  hoping we see a change. she doesn't seem too interested in getting a wig and it def has to be her decision at this point.  we found that attending support events, whether it's thru CAP or NAAF have been really helpful.  it's so important for them to know they aren't alone.  please feel free to reach out anytime.  like I mentioned we are finally in an acceptance stage of this disease and it's a beautiful place.  it takes time.