United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My daughter is 5 and in Kindergarten. She has a Lft. BPI without surgery. Her recovery has been excellent but there are some residual issues such as weakness in her left arm. Recently, she received a note from her PE Coaches stating that Kendall was refusing to participate in the class. I have setup a meeting to make sure that the PE Coaches are once again made aware of her injury. I am not sure why Kendall is not particpating, my worry is that she was unable to do whatever actvity that were asking her to participate in. Sometimes five year olds do not know how to verbally communicate problems and we have never made a big issue about her arm. Has anyone encountered problems like this with their school? When School started, I had a meeting with her Teacher and gave her the handout about BPI Awareness, Information for Schools. She assured me that she would pass this along to everyone involved. I also met one of the PE Coaches on the Meet the Teacher Night and spoke about Kendall's brachial plexus injury. Her eyes seemed to glaze over and she suggested that maybe gymnastics would be a good activity. I was totally flabbergasted at that comment. I guess I will have to start the rounds again about awareness at Kendall's school. Any advise would be appreciated!

Bring the PE department copies of Outreach.
I would give them to her doctors and teachers.
Some how went they see this information in a professional print environment they seem to pay more attention.
That is just and educated guess on my part. I know parent who have had to do this to get their attention.

Good Luck

Kath(adult/obpi)

I agree with Kath, sometimes teachers just do not get it and find it bothersome to adjust or make concessions for a child....(THAT IS PROBABLY WHY THEY HAVE 504 and IEP'S) My son is 7 with a ROBPI and has never had an issue with PE. Although he has had two surgeries, he has ALOT of function but some things are difficult. The teachers especially the PE teachers have been too nice about it. This year was the first in the new schools and when I gave them the information I printed from this website they were really appreciative since they had never heard of the injury. The one teacher even passed the information on to her pregnant friend. Just keep on the teacher, they will get it eventually !
Gayle

If your daughter has an IEP or 504 plan or even if not -I'd call a meeting with the principal and the PE teachers and get to the bottom of this. Gym is a big deal (at least over here) - it's the one place where the whole class can "play" together in a really good way and that your daughter doesn't want to participate is worrisome to me. Maybe the kids tease her? Maybe the teacher teases her? Something's going on. Good luck with this. Stay strong and fight for your child's rights.

Sonia,

I totally commiserate with you. When my daughter entered kindergarden 11 weeks mod-quad post-op I informed the school of her needs. Their enthusiasm lasted about a week. My kid was told that she was not allowed to participate as a safety precaution in certain PT/OT activities, although she was compliant in the PE classroom setting, where there was no riskes. Any in these past nine weeks, my child has made a beautiful recovery and has demonostrated tons of courage in activities that she has never done. THEN the report card arrived, and my kid got an UNSATISFACTORY in PE!!!!!!!

Hi Sonia,
I am sorry that you are having to deal with all of this. Does Kendall realize that it doesn't matter if she does things right or not I wonder. From experience - PE teachers (even though sometimes clueless) just want your child to try, and with her not participating is making things harder for her. You are so right - at 5 it is hard to verbalize certain things. From what I've seen - a PE teachers biggest gripe is a kid who won't even try. Maybe if you just told Kendall that she was perfect no matter how she did things and it is OK to not do it just like everyone else but she MUST at least try her best... (you probabbly already did that - just throwing it in) and if she needs help then she can ask a friend. Crab walks were so hard for Brittney. jumping rope, push ups, but I think that the PE teacher was impressed that she still tried and friends would help her if she needed it. I'd always ask her "Did you do the best you could though?" and she'd say yes - and I'd tell her how proud I was of her for trying. I think that she earned respect from PE coaches because of her willingness to try and they realized on their own what her limitations were. I think that giving them paper work is a good idea but I also feel that PE teachers, who teach so many classes with so many kids with different abilities, just get confused on every child's personal issues and they do not understand - they just want the kids to try their best no matter how they do. Kendall will find that she can do more than she thinks that she can I bet - and she will keep getting stronger and better at things as she grows stronger. I'd give her a pep talk on "give it your all and show them all what you can do!"
Christy

Let's not forget that children realize when they are not doing what the other kids are doing. The other kids may taunt and tease them, and this can cause little ones not to TRY. So, sure P.E. teachers want the students not to be lazy and try, BUT, they need to be understanding of those little ones who have been injured. Keep a good repore with the P.E. teacher, but
keep standing up for your child. Also, I would ask the teacher, if you have not already done so, just what does my child need to do to get a satisfactory in P.E. considering her injury.

Me again - I agree with Grandma, and I feel so badly for the "Anon" poster. That was so wrong! Sonia, you are surely in a tough spot here. Some PE teachers just don't take the time or care, and I understand the "glazed over" look. Also, the personality of your child plays so much in to it. Your child might be sensitive, and I apologize if my last post came across wrong. I often wonder how my other daughter could handle having a BPI - it would be a whole different story. I hope Sonia that with all of our input we are able to help you,
Christy

I will put my two cents in again here too because I too feel for Sonia and the Guest poster. When I sent my son to Kindergarten, I talked to the PE teacher and even though PE is required to pass in Illinois, they are graded on an effort basis only. If the try and fail so be it, if they try and suceed Halleluia !!! I would get the principal involved if needed and if that doesn't work the district. The sqeaky wheel gets the grease in this situation and if all elase fails how about the "Americans with Disabilities Act" Bring that up and see how it goes. !! It frustrates me that these schools just don't get it. I suppose I should give Brandon's School a A+++++ and an E+++++ for effort. Keep fighting !!!

Thank you very much for your helpful posts! I sent a letter to Kendall's teacher requesting a meeting with her and the PE Coach. I explained that I would like to review their approach on children that have "physical impairments". So far I have not received any response, so I am planning on calling today to find out why this meeting has never been setup. Interesting, but since I have sent this note, Kendall has been receiving "happy faces" every day in her conduct. I sure would hate to suddently receive an Unsatisfactory on her Report Card, so I am going to defintely followup. I have another question, what is the IEP or 504 plan? Kendall does not have one setup, so I am going to look into this also. Kendall has never said that anyone has been making fun of her. Like I stated before, we have never made a big issue about her arm. She knows that she gets physical therapy, but this has been something she's been doing since she was 6 weeks old, so its the norm. The only time that it is noticeable that there is a difference in her arms is when she starts winging her arm when she is tired. Kendall is so independent and kind of marches to her own beat. Thanks again for all of your very helpful responses. I appreciate it!