Sickle Cell Disease in the Classroom

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affects over 70,000 Americans, and over 30,000 of those are students engaged in the school system. Unfortunately, on a frequent basis, children with SCD face not only the challenge of learning, but also having to deal with the effects of SCD while trying to succeed in school. These children often face a school career in which their disease process significantly hinders their ability to concentrate and interferes with learning.

Often times, the reason these children struggle to be successful in school is because of the damage to their vessel walls by sickled blood cells. This complication can lead to complete vascular occlusion with resultant ischemia and neurological damage. In fact, the incidence of stroke with SCD is 250 fold higher, and eleven percent of children with SCD will suffer from a stroke before adulthood. Brain damage can be present with clinical evidence of stroke. Infant silent strokes (or silent cerebral infarctions) occur in seventeen percent of those with SCD and three percent of those who have sickle cell trait. Injury can be seen in children as young as the age of five.

The pain associated with SCD can greatly impair a child’s ability to learn. These children are faced with a reality of the pain being a constant part of their disease process. Severe pain can and often does lead to missed days of school. Children with SCD often have high absenteeism and are likely to repeat grades.

Studies that have looked at the impact of SCD in the school system have aimed much of their improvement efforts on the teachers and school nursing staff. Teachers often benefit from education opportunities that present basic facts about Sickle Cell Disease. Some schools have even taken basic steps of properly identifying the student who has sickle cell and informing the teacher of their student’s condition. Instead of being aware of this condition, teachers have mislabeled children as being too tired during the school day (due to a lack of interest), improperly motivated, affected by a chaotic family lifestyle, and affected by drug problems (either currently occurring in the family or prenatal exposure).

The school nurse therefore plays an integral part in this process. First, the nurse should provide education to teachers about the disease process and how it will affect a student in their classroom. Further, these students are eligible for supportive measures that can help them better succeed in the classroom. Some of these examples include; classroom accommodation, transportation, parent counseling and training, school health services, audiology, speech pathology and psychological counseling.

For more information on how our services can help you better represent a person with SCD, contact us at 630-554-8117 or e-mail us at info @ medicaljurisprudence.com.