Letter from Randi

What is asthma

Asthma's
impact
on living and learning

Managing your child's asthma

The tools every asthmatic needs

Asthma emergencies

How teachers can help

What your school nurse can do

Where to seek help

A letter from
Randi Weingarten

Dear Parent:

Raising a child in New York City is never easy, but the level of anxiety is even higher if your child has asthma. Asthma is a serious disease, but if it's managed carefully an asthmatic child can attend school regularly and lead a full life.

I know, because I've been managing my own asthma since I was a teenager. It wasn't easy, but I didn't let asthma prevent me from doing anything! Today I even run three to five miles a day.

As a parent or guardian of a child with asthma, you worry about all the things at home that might trigger an asthma attack - including dust, pets, insects, stress and even changes in the weather. And when you send your child off to school, you hope other adults will be vigilant and prepared to respond to your child's needs.

So I'm personally pleased to offer you this pamphlet on behalf of the 100,000 public school educators in the United Federation of Teachers. This booklet:

• Defines asthma to help you determine if your child may have the disease.
• Describes asthma's effects on children.
• Suggests how to work with your child's doctor.
• Discusses the steps you should take at home and at school to manage your child's asthma.
• Describes the role of school staff in managing asthma.
• Provides a list of citywide resources to help you.

Above all else, by informing you, I hope this pamphlet reduces your anxiety and helps keep your child healthy and safe, both at home and at school.

Let me assure you, New York City's public school educators want to do everything they can to help you manage your child's asthma so he or she can come to school ready to learn and achieve at the highest level. To support their efforts, in addition to distributing this pamphlet, the UFT helped arrange training sessions in which teachers, paraprofessionals and other school staff reviewed how to recognize the warning signs of asthma and assist students who are having asthma attacks. We did this in conjunction with the American Lung Association, the Board of Education and the New York City Department of Health. We hope other collaborations will follow.

I'd like to thank these partners for their involvement, as well as the Daily News for allowing us to use some of its excellent illustrations on asthma for this pamphlet.

Sincerely,

Randi Weingarten
UFT President