Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA)
Educator's Role:
- Try not to treat the student differently than the others
- Try not to give the student with JRA special treatment
- Encourage child to participate with other children
- Follow any healthcare instructions including medication schedules
- Stay in touch with parents to better understand the student's situation
Real Life Example:
Role of family:
- Explain to the child that JRA is not their fault
- Closely follow the doctor's instructions
- Join a support group to meet others going through the same thing.
- Person 1, 2, and 3 : Healthy
- Person 4: pain and swelling of joints in the hands (cannot use hands)
- Person 5: JRA symptoms that come and go, your eyes are swollen today (cannot open eyes)
- Person 6: Has lost complete motion in legs (must use wheelie desk for mobility)
Role of School:
Emotional:
- Be handicap accessible
- Offer counseling for the child
- Be supportive and treat JRA students equally with other students.
Role of Community:
- Offer ways to keep the child involved
- Depression
- Feeling different than others
- Lack of self-esteem
Ending Information:
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA)
Social:
- It is still unknown what causes JRA, but we do know it is an autoimmune disorder, which simply means your immune system attacks your body tissue instead of fighting your infection
- There is no cure to JRA. All treatments are to relieve pain and inflammation. Usually treated by medication and physical therapy.
- Occurs in children of 16 years or younger
- Causes joint pain, swelling, stiffness, and sometimes loss of motion.
- Can affect any joint in the human body (Humans hold a total of 230 joints)
- Rare cases affect internal organs
Further Resources
My Thoughts:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/juvenilerheumatoidarthritis.html
- Teacher passes papers out
- Teacher assigns partners for students with disabilities. This way if there is ever a problem, another student is always there to help.
http://www.kidsgetarthritistoo.org/
- Writing/Drawing
- Playing at recess
- Putting chairs up
- Passing out items
- Gym class
- Carrying lunch tray
- Going to the bathroom
What are a few ways we can prevent this problem in our classrooms?
By: Megan Seeds