Primary School

Be prepared to discuss worries and problems with the teacher; a good relationship works wonders.

It is a good idea to register your child well in advance and to mention the hand or arm deficiency at the same time. When further details arrive, ask if the school does home visits. These can be important to 'demystify' the situation as far as the class teacher is concerned. The teacher will see the child in his home environment and realise that the child can do most things, be it in their own particular way. This will help your child in the classroom situation because a teacher may be concerned about such a child entering her class. Not all schools will have home visits, but a request can be made to the head teacher who will probably be quite helpful and will agree. If a home visit is not possible, remember that your child's Occupational Therapist may help, and may agree to see the teacher. In any event, arrange for your child to meet his teacher as soon as possible. By the end of this initial visit the teacher should realise that apart from physical differences your child is like all the others, and can be expected to participate in all school activities. After all your child has coped this far with their deficiency. If there are any practical problems, remember that the Occupational Therapist attached to your local Disablement Services Centre has experienced knowledge of many methods, aids and appliances for overcoming these and can spend time with your child in school to assess and solve any problems. If the child wears a prosthesis, this should be explained to the teacher. A copy of our leaflet 'A Guide for Teachers' may be useful and is available from our head office.

Once at school it may be necessary for you to go into the classroom and explain to the other children and teachers about the arm and prosthesis, but take the lead from your child as some children may find this more embarrassing than one to one explanations in the playground. Be prepared to discuss worries and problems with the teacher; a good relationship works wonders. Most children with a deficiency are more confident and independent than their classmates and will stick up for themselves and cope extremely well. The other children may be curious and may well give your child rather too much attention, even offering to help your child when he doesn't need it. This attention will diminish, especially if your child is clear in his answers and shows he requires no assistance. They may be fascinated by his arm but will rarely be embarrassed or hurtful. This kind of attention should not be confused with bullying which is a rare occurrence and would appear, when it does happen, to often have nothing to do with the arm at all! However, if bullying is experienced it needs to be tackled promptly as it is easy for it to erode your child's confidence.