Alopecia Areata
Patchy Hair Loss
Physical features, Emotional features and Mental features.
Alopecia Areata is patchy hair loss, as seen by the pictures below. Dealing with Alopecia Areata is hard, but overall it doesn't affect your health in any harmful ways. Your child may be very embarrassed and nervous to go out into public due to his/her disorder, but don't let that stop him/her from doing what he wants.
Symptoms, Time frame, Lifespan.
Your child will start to see symptoms of this disorder soon, since typically the symptoms start at early childhood, the starting symptoms being with a round, smooth bald patch on his/her head. This disorder will not affect lifespan, it can start and stop at random times. For some people leaving and never coming back and for others it never goes away. This disorder takes time to fully take affect.
Care, Cures, Treatments.
Not much care and attention is required for treating this disorder. There are some treatments for the disease, such as Corticosteroids, Minoxidil, Anthralin, Diphencyprone (DCPD) and others. Your child isn't restricted from any outside activities or such.
Preparing for the child.
No changes to make are needed for your home. Your child will need a lot of emotional support, since I imagine it is hard living in today's world, judged by looks, while having hair loss. The child will not need any educational support at school.
Citations
Alopecia Areata Causes, Treatments, Symptoms. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/guide/alopecia-areata
Alopecia Areata. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/diseases-and-treatments/a---d/alopecia-areata
Alopecia Areata. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from https://www.naaf.org/alopecia-areata