My Personal Research Journey

     Five years ago, I had a 4-year-old child in my class who had Type 1 diabetes. I was familiar with the basics of this medical condition; however, I was not familiar with what the difference(s) was between Type 1 and Type 2 (which some of my family members have), what the signs were for low blood sugar, and how to input the correct insulin dosage into a pump. But over the course of that school year, I was able to learn and familiarize myself with Type 1 diabetes and what it mainly entails. Plus, there were two other children at the school who had Type 1 diabetes and I could talk to their teachers and families if I needed help.
     Jump forward to this year and I now have a child, who was diagnosed with leukemia a year and a half ago, in my class. Although he is in remission, once a month, he has to have chemo treatments and according to his parents, he has come a long way from where he was when he was first diagnosed. Just like with Type 1, I was not too familiar with leukemia besides the fact that it is a type of blood cancer and it affects bone marrow and the blood.
     Both of these extraordinary children live with a condition that could end their young lives at any given moment especially if they do not receive immediate care at specific times. For example, the child with Type 1 had to have her blood sugar level tested many times throughout the day. Plus, before she ate anything, she had to have the right amount of insulin inputted in her pump. If her sugar level was too high, she had to be given a correction. If it was too low, she had intake sugar immediately. When it comes to the boy with leukemia, since his immune system isn't like everyone else's, if he comes in contact with anyone who has flu like symptoms or the chicken pox, he has to go immediately to the hospital to receive antibiotics.
     Keeping these two children in mind and a few other young children I know with other health issues, I wanted to base my research simulation on how does having a medical condition such as Type 1 diabetes or leukemia affect young children and their peer relationships or interactions.  Are there any health issues that you have come across while working with young children that has effected them from connecting with their peers? Or did they make deeper bonds with others and didn't let their diagnosis inhibit their relationships? I would love to know your experience(s) if you have any. Plus, if you have any suggestions as to how to narrow down key words to research this topic, I would appreciate it! For example, when I type in key words such as health issues and peer relationships, there are several different issues that come up. However when I am more specific and type in Type 1 diabetes or leukemia, there are only a couple of articles that fit what I am looking for.
     If anyone needs anything from me, I am more than happy to help in anyway I can. Thank you in advance!

Comments

  1. haleemaJanuary 20, 2019 at 9:18 AM

    WOW!
    A four year old with diabetes, I am so intrigued.
    Me having now experience with either condition that you have discussed in your blog I would have absolutely no idea how to best approach either. What would you say is most challenging about working with students with conditions such as these? How well would you say they understand their condition?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trisha MarlisaJanuary 20, 2019 at 1:21 PM

      Honestly, the most challenging thing for me is the worrying that something is going to happen to them and I am not going to be able to help them. I try to treat these children like everyone else and not give them special attention/treatment, but it's hard not to. As for how well they understand their condition, they know a great amount about it, except for the fact that each of these conditions could be life-ending. The parents of the boy with leukemia are open and honest with him and talk to him in terms that a 4 year-old can understand. They let us know the only thing they left out was that it can be terminal, which is quite understandable.

      Delete
  2. sarahkascoJanuary 20, 2019 at 4:23 PM

    Trisha,
    I currently have a student who suffered from a stroke either in utero or just shortly after birth. He has many struggles from this incident such as language delay, limited mobility in one arm, as well as very underdeveloped motor skills. He has been in speech, occupational, and physical therapies since he was six months old but skills he struggles to keep up with his classroom peers of the same age. While I do not feel this child thinks he is any different since he has not known any different his whole life, I can tell how his peers can be a bit hesitant or even impatient with him at times in the classroom. While is it not fully negative, the frustration comes when a child is not able to understand him or he bumps into another because of his lack of gross motor skills.


    If you were to use terms such as lifelong or terminal in your search would this yield other results? I am trying to think of other ways to describe these conditions that have a great impact on these children you work with. I am eager to learn with you as you continue your research.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Miguel's Education BlogJanuary 20, 2019 at 5:37 PM

    Hi Trisha

    What a great topic but sad one you have chosen to research. I will be very interested to read what you find and the impact it has with their education. I wish you luck on your research and hope you find the answers you are looking for.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownJanuary 20, 2019 at 7:36 PM

    Hello Trisha,

    Our personal experiences gives us the best insight to issues we have to face. In itself provides some research and hands-on evidence to answers we have and questions that stem from the topic. In some cases you have to treat the children the same but provide the individual needs of others as well. Great topic and I will be following.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Collection of Resources

Position Statements and Influential Practices Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children From Birth Through Age 8 Where We Stand on Child Abuse Prevention Where We Stand on School Readiness Where We Stand on Responding to Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Early Childhood Curriculum, Assessments, and Program Evaluation: Building an Effective, Accountable System in Programs for Children Birth Through Age 8 Early Childhood Inclusion: A Summary Zero to Three: National Center for Infants, Toddlers, and Families Evidence-based Practice Empowers Early Childhood Professionals and Families Knowledge-to-Action Guides Global Support for Children's Rights and Well-Being Fact Sheet: A Summary of the Rights Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child World Forum Foundation World Organization of Early Childhood Education Association for Early Education International Selected Early Childhood Organizations Na
Read more

When I Think of Research...

When I was thinking of a research topic for my simulation, I figured I would choose one that I was experiencing and/or had experienced at some point during my teaching career. This is why the topic of childhood illness piqued my interest. I have had the opportunity to work with children who had been diagnosed with a childhood illness such as Type 1 diabetes and leukemia. I have watched them interact among their peers when they are feeling "healthy." Plus I have observed them after they received a treatment and/or were feeling "low."  I think that my simulation is important to the early childhood field because it could help teachers and parents better support children diagnosed with a childhood illness and help them facilitate children's peer interactions and/or relationships. I know that I could have benefited from similar research findings to help me and my coworkers work more efficiently and effectively with the children in our care.  My simulation can
Read more

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression Part 2

Image
Photo credit:  https://www.123rf.com/photo_103830740_stock-vector-tree-with-colorful-human-hands-together-community-team-concept-illustration-for-culture-diversity-na.html I have been working as an early childhood educator for twenty years now. It is hard to believe that it has been this long, yet I find it pretty rewarding to work with such a diverse group of children, families and coworkers. My hope is that I can continue doing what I am doing for a lot longer and to learn new ideas from the children and their families. I enjoy being with “my children” because they keep me on my toes and teach me new things almost every day, especially since they are all unique individuals. One goal I would like to set is that everyone in the early childhood field would treat all children and families with respect. I understand that this may be difficult to accomplish since we have conscious and unconscious biases towards our own and other groups. However, if we all make a conscious effort to
Read more