Video summary
Alisha is a nine-year-old girl who suffers from asthma.
She talks about how it affects her life and the things she finds difficult.
Alisha’s asthma is a serious medical condition and an attack can be fatal.
Her asthma is affected by exercise, making her cough and become short of breath, so she uses an inhaler to keep it under control.
She also finds it difficult to play outside in the cold weather.
As a result, Alisha has to be careful what activities she does.
She prefers more passive activities which she does with a friend.
Her friends will often give up their games to play with her and play games where there is little or no running.
The asthma causes her to miss school sometimes and she falls behind with her work.
Some pupils have been mean to her, while others exclude her from their activities, thinking she does it on purpose.
Her friends help her to catch up with her school work and are very supportive.
This clip is from the series Same but Different.
Teacher Notes
The class could have a discussion about the causes and effects of asthma, or a discussion about how asthma may make a person appear different and not be able to join in with some activities.
The children could explore how asthma can be controlled through the use of an inhaler, and consider of the role of medicine as a drug.
The children could also be taught what to do in an emergency if someone has an asthma attack.
This short film will be relevant for teaching PSHE at KS2 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2nd Level in Scotland.
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