HEALTH IMPAIRMENTS
Health impairments include asthma, epilepsy, cancer, diabetes, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other physical conditions that affect a child's ability to function. Having children in your classroom with health impairments was uncommon twenty years ago. This group has been increasing over the years, mostly due to large increases in the number of children with asthma and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Asthma has become the most chronic health problem among children, and the number of affected children is growing rapidly. This national trend is even more pronounced on the reservations. Juvenile Diabetes and epilepsy are two other conditions commonly seen in reservation programs.
How can we help you help the children you see every day?Health impairments is such a wide category. It includes children who are often hospitalized with chronic illnesses and children who cannot sit still. As our research assistant, Breeanne, pointed out, you never know what type of challenges and strengths a child will bring into your classroom or into your life. What you are required to cope with tomorrow may be something you have not even considered today. Let's start then, with the kinds of questions people have, even if they don't feel comfortable asking these out loud. Our next page includes a guide to the range of resources within our site, so you can look for what meets your specific needs. Follow the links recommended by your workshop instructor for lots of information on ADHD. This is followed by pages on specific disorders, asthma, juvenile diabetes, epilepsy and ADHD.
What do I do when I visit a sick child in the hospital? - Click on this link. It's a poem and I thought some of it was a little too sweet but I did think the idea of bringing bubbles and blowing bubbles around a small child in the hospital was a pretty brilliant idea.
