Am i not making myself clear

[Claw3]

I sometimes feel like im speaking a different language when i speak to school.

Ds's has shadows on his lungs and requires an inhaler, not everyday, but if his breathing gets bad.

Yesterday told teacher he would require his inhaler as his breathing was bad. I told her he doesnt always recognise the signs of when he needs to use it, so could they give him his inhaler at lunchtime, if he has not asked for it.

Ds tells me at first play, he got very out of breath, told a teacher and she sent him to the medical room and he had his inhaler. When he returned to class the teacher told him off and told him he wasnt allowed to ask for his inhaler at playtimes and was to only have it at lunchtime.

Phoned medical officer this morning and told her that ds is allowed to have his inhaler when he asks for it, but he could ask for it every 5 minutes and obviously shouldnt be allowed. But if he doesnt ask for it, could they give it to him at lunch time anyhow.

I had to explain this about 5 times and she still seemed confused.

Our school is the same with DS1's (NT) puffer. He gets chesty easily but he doesnt take it seriously.

When he gets chesty he is supposed to have 5 puffs but he rarely does more than one. No-one checks despite me saying a million times.

Also I went to check his spacer was packed when they went on a trip last week. His teacher said I have his inhalor (the salbutamol one) which I had given her the week before. When I asked where the spacer was she looked at me like I was speaking gibberish. I have since had to get another spacer as the original one seems to have disappeared into an invisible black hole within the school, and it worries me exactly how long it has been missing.

So I feel your pain.

I had written this all down on the form i was given giving them permission to administer his inhaler.

He can have up to 10 puffs, if his breathing is really bad, but i have told them if he requires 10 puffs, then he shouldnt be in school and they should call me.

This seems to have added to the confusion and they are asking do i want them to call me if he requires his inhaler. ARGH no!

I have spelt it out, it is ok to give him 2 puffs on his inhaler after/during every play time if he asks for it, as he might well get out of breath when running around. But dont give it to him every 5 minutes if he asks.

He is now too scared to ask for it, as the teacher told him off and told him he is not allowed.

I have at meeting at school this morning, will mention it again then.

Oh yes, the bloody forms!

We have to fill them out termly here - still dont make the blindes bit of difference.And I have to fill out a form for each different medication DS has.

Hope you get something sorted :)

Thanks Shadeofviolet, i suppose im lucky ds only has his inhaler!

I suppose what i need to say is that potentially ds can have 10 puffs at a time and up to 30 puffs a day, so giving him 10 puffs during the course of a day if he needs it is perfectly ok.

But they want me to define exactly how many puffs to give him and exactly when, which is difficult for me to say without being there. I suppose they are a bit nervous about over doing it.

when Dd1 was younger I made a small poster thing which had all the insturctions for her inhalers, how much to give, when to phone me etc. I laminated it and stuck it in the bag with the inhaler and spacer. It wasn't perfect but it was a reminder to the staff. Of course they had to actually look at it, but I made it out of bright card.

Thanks ineed, i had already written the instructions down and given a copy to the class teacher and medical person this morning when i had a meeting, before i saw your post, i can add the bright card if they still dont get it

DS2's school didn't take his asthma seriously until last term I found him unconscious and not breathing one evening. Since then they have been a bit more on the ball, although I did still need to remind them on PE days that he needs his inhaler before PE (still he has only had PE once so they MIGHT remember in the future).

Dear god littlemissgreen, that is terrible.