Elementary School Medical Needs
When I was in elementary school, I didn’t run into a lot of children with medical conditions.
There was a single child in my school who had Down Syndrome, and no one was ever told of any medical issues relating to this diagnosis.
We had a special lesson about a boy in my class who was in a Spica Cast (a cast which covers the entire torso) for a few weeks during 6th grade. We were just told to be careful not to bump into him, but nothing more.
At least two students had Asthma. I was pretty familiar with Asthma since my sister was one of the two!
There was never any information shared about any conditions…..and there was nothing more significant than these 4 diagnoses in our school to our knowledge.
Elementary School Medical Needs
Fast forward now to what I have seen in-school: cerebral palsy, spina bifida, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, cancer, organ transplant recipients…..and with much of the medical care comes changes in appearance and the traumatic impact on children attending school with those children.
Think back to when you were in elementary school – what medical needs or disabilities do you remember existing in your class or in your school? What do you think has changed in how administrators and teachers view “medically fragile” children? How do you see the role of Child Life growing as a result of this change? Why do you think this change in Child Life is necessary?
Elementary School Medical Needs
Fast forward now to what I have seen in-school: cerebral palsy, spina bifida, sickle cell anemia, diabetes, cancer, organ transplant recipients…..and with much of the medical care comes changes in appearance and the traumatic impact on children attending school with those children.
Think back to when you were in elementary school – what medical needs or disabilities do you remember existing in your class or in your school? What do you think has changed in how administrators and teachers view “medically fragile” children? How do you see the role of Child Life growing as a result of this change? Why do you think this change in Child Life is necessary? APA.