ABSTRACT
Pediatric asthma is themost common illness impacting on children’s school performance, being considered by some to be the leading cause of childhood disability (Newacheck & Halfon, 2000). What makes this disease even more special is that the disease itself is invisible, though it can have a noticeable impact on a child’s school performance with reports indicating that there are more than 10 million missed school days per year attributable to asthma. While the disease itself is “invisible,” the obvious effects of the disease are seen in school activities such as sporting events, school trips, physical education, and play activities. Other effects of this disease include how nocturnal asthma symptoms affect sleep architecture and subsequently school performance. In addition, the medications used to manage asthma can also have an impact on school performance. Children who have well-controlled asthma do, in fact, have the capability to engage in the entire range of children’s activities and are not likely to have disrupted sleep (Bender & Annett, 1999).
