Homework for Junior High

Children with hemophilia may face many new challenges when they begin junior high—going to a new school, meeting lots of new kids and having to explain hemophilia to them can be very intimidating, especially if they’re coming from a school where everyone already knew them.

It can also be intimidating for moms when their children enter a new school. My son, Alex, will be starting junior high, and whereas in the past I’ve been very involved in his care, this will be the first time he’ll really be taking charge and managing his condition himself. But you, your child, and the school can be prepared if you do your homework.

The biggest change for us this year is that there is no dedicated nurse at Alex’s school. There are three elementary schools in our district that merge into one junior high school, and the nurse travels to all the schools in the district. We had to take extra steps to educate other staff members about Alex’s condition, too, so they could be prepared to handle any situations that may come up while the nurse is away.

Alex is at an age now when he can take responsibility for his own health. He’s smart and independent enough to go get help when necessary and that’s great. Obviously, if he has a serious injury he will need the school to act and it’s important for them to trust Alex. I told them: first call an ambulance and then call me.

Staff members aren’t the only ones who need to understand your child’s condition—it’s important for other students to understand, too, and you can prepare your child to answer questions others may ask. Alex is his own best advocate. He is comfortable talking about his condition when necessary and has created a very neat way of telling other kids about it. He explains that usually white corpuscles in the blood act like a wagon train—they circle an injury and protect it. But in people with hemophilia, the wagons are missing a wheel. Medicines can fix the wagons.

Before your child starts junior high, there are several things you can do to prepare the staff:

• Arrange a meeting with school officials well before school starts to fully explain your child’s condition
• Provide the school with all the correct emergency numbers
• Make sure your child’s medicine is available at the nurse’s station
• Provide a detailed, written health plan about your child that includes your child’s health history, blood type, the type of hemophilia he or she has, the treatment he or she receives, specific procedures for bleeding episodes, and an emergency plan for life-threatening episodes