Dear Addy: Back To School

Dear Addy,
We moved to a new state for my job. What is the best way to explain my son’s hemophilia to the school? I am worried about how to handle teaching the school about his hemophilia. I want them to know how they can support and help him to prevent bleeds and I want them to know what to do when bleeds or other accidents happen.
Signed,
New School Blues
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Dear School Blues,
Congratulations on your new job. There are many adjustments that your family will have to make and HFA is here to help you with this one. HFA has posted on our website, tools intended to help you educate the educators and relieve some of the stress and worry of enrolling your child in a new school. The toolkit includes presentations, downloads and links to other resources.  All these items can be found individually in the HFA Resource Library as well:
Some of the features of this toolkit include

• a customizable PowerPoint (add your child’s specific information and use this to teach your teacher about his bleeding disorder)
• a flowchart to determine if you child needs a 504 or an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
• real life examples of 504 plans for K-12 students 
• a customizable Individualized Health Plan (IHP)
• a customizable quick reference sheet for teachers, substitute teachers, bus drivers and coaches

Please go to the Back to School Toolkit to find these tools and many others here. The National Hemophilia Federation has a good article on the subject, too. Best of luck.
Sincerely,
Addy
Have a question? Click HERE. Your name will be changed in the response.
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HFA frequently receives questions from the bleeding disorders community related to advocacy issues. The questions often impact the entire community. In an effort to reach the largest audience possible with our responses to these widely applicable questions, HFA developed “Dear Addy.” Questions submitted to this column are edited in order to protect privacy and should be considered educational only, not individual guidance.