What Your Child's Teacher Should Know About Your Child's Asthma?

Most schools are likely to have several students with asthma, which means that many teachers-plus school nurses- will be very familiar with helping children with asthma. However, you still have a role to play in ensuring that your child gets appropriate attention for his condition and that all the relevant school staffers are familiar with what is needed to help your child during the school day.

In a classroom of about 25 students, teachers can expect to have at least two or three children with asthma. While you should check to see if your child's teacher has his action and daily action plans on hand, also you should ask if that teacher has had additional training from the school to spot asthma symptoms and to immediately address any emergencies that could arise.

In-service or professional development courses can be taught by a school nurse, a local hospital, or community organizations that focus on children with asthma. These courses can discuss when to refer a child to a nurse because of symptoms (such as wheezing, a pale sweaty face, repeated coughing, or low peak flow readings), or side effects that are interfering with breathing or performing school activities.

Training also can assist teachers in learning about how to stop an asthma attack by encouraging relaxation or deep breathing (possibly by modeling the technique), providing warm water to drink and if needed, using quick-relief or rescue medication. The message should be emphasized to your child that he or she must speak up and not be shy to tell the teacher if experiencing any difficulties, such as labored breathing or wheezing, so that the teacher can act promptly.

Additional training can also help teachers address the child's feelings, for example, of being somewhat different that her classmates, anxiety over the use of medications, or embarrassment of having an asthma attack. You should receive acknowledgement from your child's class teacher or teachers that they have received his asthma action plan. If possible (especially for the elementary grades), review it with the teacher to see if any modifications are needed in the classroom, such as removals or repairs to avoid various asthma triggers.

Ask the teacher to contact you if your child's asthma symptoms are affecting his learning or interactions with peers. Concerns about possible side effects with medications-such as nervousness, nausea, jitteriness- should be reported to you.

Also, ask the teacher to set up a procedure addressing how missed schoolwork should be handled if your child has an asthmatic episode or is absent from school. And above all, support the teacher's efforts to get your child to participate in all classroom activities. While there may be situations that may aggravate asthma symptoms on school days-such as changes in weather or poor air quality- your child likely will want to feel like "one of the guys."

Be sure to let as many teachers and other adults at school know about your kid's asthma as possible- not just the school nurse. In case your child has an asthma flare while the school nurse is not around, so each of your kid's teachers will probably be nearby and take care in case of an emergency.

If the child has exercise-induced asthma (and many teens do), it is very important that the gym teacher knows about your child's condition. This way, the teacher can keep a sharp eye while your kid is exercising.

Nearly five million children under age 18 have asthma, which leads to 10 million school absences a year- three times as many as any other cause. The good news is that if you manage your asthma symptoms properly, you can still handle both sports and school easily. It may seem like a pain to interrupt your day to take your medicine during school hours, but it is important. Finally, watch out for stress. The average teenager has a lot of stress- doing well in school, keeping up grades, sports, peer pressure, so on. Try to get a handle on stress and talk to your parents, trusted teacher if you feel overwhelmed.