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Fifth-grader Educates Peers about Alopecia Areata
by Alexandra Kilpatrick
Jeremiah Spaude, a fifth grader in Wisconsin, recently taught his classmates about alopecia areata, a hair loss condition and autoimmune disease with which he was diagnosed at age 6.
At first, Jeremiah’s mother Lori Spaude speculated that she may have accidentally caused the small bald patches on his head while cutting his hair.
“I thought, ‘Oh gee, the clippers must have caught him when I cut his hair the last time,’” she told the Lacrosse Tribune. “I felt bad.”
Lori Spaude realized there was more to the bald patches than simply a bad haircut when the patches began growing on 6-year-old Jeremiah’s scalp. After a year, he had lost all his hair.
Alopecia Areata
Jeremiah’s doctor diagnosed him with a common autoimmune skin disease called alopecia areata, which causes varying degrees of hair loss in children and adults.
“I didn’t know anything about [alopecia],” Lori told the Lacrosse Tribune. “We were told there was no known cure. There are medications you can try, but the thing is the disease is so unpredictable. One medication might work and help one person for a period of time, but it may not work or help the next person.”
Currently a 10-year-old fifth grader at Gebhardt Elementary School in Black River Falls, Jeremiah has occasionally been bullied by his peers for his lack of hair, but he feels much more comfortable after showing his classmates a video about alopecia areata.
“It’s hard sometimes,” Jeremiah told the Lacrosse Tribune. “People make fun of you and take off your hat and throw it. [After the video] I felt like I was more in the pack.”
Jeremiah’s Hat Day
When Lori heard about the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, she and Jeremiah decided to share more about the condition with his peers this school year.
Gebhard Elementary held a ‘hat day’ initiative this September, in which students paid a dollar to be able to wear a hat for a day, a clothing choice Jeremiah opts for every day. This fundraiser raised more than 200 dollars for the foundation.
“There are many different ways [for parents] to approach topics related to their child,” Gebhard Elementary Principal Mike Lichucki told the Lacrosse Tribune. “There’s really not a wrong way. [The alopecia information] was received very well. The students had some questions about it that we were able to answer and build an awareness level at school. These students will be together for the next several years, so why not make it a comfortable experience for everybody?”
Alopecia areata affects about 2 percent of the world’s population and more than 6 million people in the United States. While some merely experience hair loss on the scalp, others have hair loss over their entire body.
If you or someone you know would like to learn more about hair loss, including alopecia areata, please contact our team of representatives today. They will help you find real solutions for your hair loss problems. They will connect you with a proven hair loss clinic or specialist in your area today!
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