Comment by Renee on November 13, 2008 at 6:57pm

thank you bogie and jeezLouise. i will take both of your advice. thanks again.

Comment by Maria, Mia's Mom on November 13, 2008 at 7:04pm

HI Renee, I had somewhat the same issue...for the first 2wks I was at the school constantly the I wrote a letter and asked if it could be given out to the school. the principal said it was against board of ed rules...so I called board of ed..child advocacy..explained the situation they said they will call me back they never did, but the principal had my letter given out only to the kindergarten class and the NAAF dvd was shown to the entire school in an assembly...it made a big diffrence noe less kids stare so she feels alot more comfortable in school...push the issue question the principal if she doesnt have a clear answer call the board of ed and try to get one....I hope it works out well for you and your child....

Comment by Renee on November 13, 2008 at 7:52pm

Thank you Maria. I didnt think of that. Were you present for the assembly?

Comment by Maria, Mia's Mom on November 13, 2008 at 8:11pm

I couldn't be there because I CRY way to much and didn't want that to affect my daughter..THey showed the video in 4 diffrent assembly times my daughter choose to be present for it and bless her heart she even stood on stage and tried to answer questions....I was told be some parents their children went home and explained alopecia to them...

Comment by Celeste Edwards on November 13, 2008 at 11:49pm

Renee,

Does your daughter happen to go to Hoosier Road Elementary in Fishers, Indiana?? I only ask this because we had SEVERAL isues with the principal at our sons school last year. She flat out did not want anyone in her school!! However this year we are at a different elementary school in the SAME school district, and it is NIGHT and DAY different!! So, as I understand what other's have said, It "could" be an issue with the Principal. Keep asking questions and moving forward!! Good Luck!

Comment by Calvin on November 14, 2008 at 1:05am

I totally agree with Bogie that you should leave the matter to the school. Maybe if you want to express personally how do you feel about the condition, you might want to talk to the school's principal and elaborate further on your daughter's psychological and emotional situation. Sometimes, from the school's perspective, it might be better if a professional like a nurse delivers the message to the children but you can definitely shed a light on the stuff you want to share with them.

Comment by Margie on November 14, 2008 at 1:59am

My 9 year old son developed AA over the summer and was scared to begin the new school year. We decided that the best thing to do was to just open it up to everyone and not worry about trying to hide it. We had the school nurse do a presentation to all the grades that share the same playground and lunch area with him. I had considered asking if I could do the presentation but the school recommended that the district nurse do it. She was not too familiar with alopecia so she went to the NAAF site and learned some great ways to explain it. I also had the opportunity to answer some questions for her. Yes she's a nurse, but this is not something many have knowledge of. The explaination to the kids was very basic. She described it using the "allergy reference" that the NAAF uses. The most important thing that was discussed (I could tell it was important to the kids by the look of their faces) was the fact that it's not contagious. She also asked the kids to imagine if it was them, how would they feel and want to be treated. This really hit home with many kids. I was very happy that we went with the school nurse rather than myself. I say this because I think that with it coming from school personnel that the kids took it a little more seriously. This also gave the school the opportunity to let the kids know how to deal with it and what to do if they witnessed someone teasing or talking behind his back. They were able to let the kids know that they have a "no tolerence" policy concerning teasing and basically mandate proper behavior. I think the kids take it more seriously coming from the school rather than someone's parent. Even though I had to help educate the school, the effect for us was, I believe, better coming form them. We have only had one incident of teasing and that was very short lived. One of Casey's friends turned the kid in to a teacher, the parents were called and we have never had any other negative situations. Actually I think the kids have become protective of him. This was our experience. I hope that whatever you choose that you will have as supportive and great results as we did. Let us know how things progress.

Comment by Renee on November 14, 2008 at 9:28am

WOW I love this place. I Thank each and every one of you for your advice. It helped me out a GREAT deal. I don't feel so mad that the principal was being a jerk which I have heard from my neighbor who was on the school board. I think I will educate the nurse and give her all the information and as mentioned give her the NAAF website. So far nobody has teased her, she has gotten "looks" but I have to understand also that kids aren't used to seeing a bald child. My husband and I have taught my daughter to hold her head high and make her self esteem through the roof. We, meaning my daughter my husband and I to make people aware so hopefully people will look past it and see her for who she is . So far so good. BUT there is always that one or two kids. At her age right now I dont think the kids pay too much attention because they are in kindergarden and have a whole new world. I thank you all again.

Comment by Betsy Rachel's Mom on November 14, 2008 at 11:22am

i am the mom of a 10 year old with alopecia and serious food allergies. i am a nurse, but i also happen to be a lawyer and my sister is an elementary school principal. so, that said, i will tell you that when it comes to MY kids and MY school district, i find you get a LOT more with sugar than you do with a stick. never get mad and defensive first! i have watched various school administrators go to war over food allergies when parents come in make demands, get nasty and try to run the show. it is not uncommon for schools to handle this the way yours has. schools employ nurses for many reasons and health teaching is one of them. i recommend starting with the school nurse. spend some time with her. give her the naaf materials and let her go through them, then meet with her again to let her ask questions and discuss the presentation with you. ask her to meet with your daughter to find out if she has any special concerns she'd like the nurse to address when she speaks to the class. ask your daughter if she'd like to participate in the presentation if the school will allow it. ask her if she even wants to be in the room when the presentation is made---maybe she doesn't want to, you never know until you ask. then try to work all this out with the school nurse. if your daughter is in the room during the presentation, there's nothing worse than having everyone talk about her like she is not even there. i know she's only 5, but i find our children become wise beyond their years as we must address some pretty serious issues with them at such a young age. my daughter made a presentation to her 4th grade class with the school nurse by her side. i was hiding outside the classroom door out of site and she didn't know that i was there. i was sooooo proud of her. it was a beautiful presentation and the nurse was wonderful. you do have certain rights under the law; however, they don't necessarily entitle you to do what you want the way you want it. find out if there are kids in the school with food allergies and how the school handles that? are letters sent home to warn parents about allergies in a particular classroom? perhaps you can piggy back off of existing school protocols for food allergies and diabetes. so, rather than get aggravated, get nice and see what happens!

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