It is not generally prudent to assume that a child has been told about the disease. A teacher may obtain information about the student by asking his parents, who can be an excellent resource. The medical clinic staff can also provide general information about Duchenne muscular dystrophy, as well as about a specific child, if parental permission is given for the exchange of such information between the school and the clinic. Openness with the child who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy is very important. When a teacher shows sincere interest and feels comfortable speaking with the child about his abilities, the child is likely to feel comfortable about asking questions and expressing his own feelings, which might not otherwise be acknowledged.
Accurate information is also very important for peers to cope with a classmate's disease.
The child may be reluctant to have his disease discussed and some parents may be hesitant for others to know about their child's disease. Discuss with the child and his parents their feelings about this before giving information to classmates. It can help a class to know about the type of muscular dystrophy that affects their classmate, the nature of treatments such as physical therapy, and ways the disease may affect a child's appearance, abilities and behavior. This open approach can be useful, particularly in helping children develop an understanding of matters such as why an affected child can do some things one month and may not be able to do the same things two months later. With accurate knowledge about muscular dystrophy, peers are less likely to tease and more likely to defend the affected child against inconsiderate remarks from others as visible changes occur.