Wide swaths of Canada and the North/Northeast U.S. are being swathed in wildfire smoke.
Exposure to pollutants like smoke isn’t good for anyone, but it is really not good for kids with special needs. This includes the entire rainbow of special needs children, not only the kids with respiratory or cardiac conditions.
WHY is this so bad for them?
Because smoke is an irritant that creates both obvious and subtle difficulties for kids:
- It is an eye and sinus irritant. Rubbing their eyes increases irritation. Many special needs kids cannot tell us that their eyes are irritated. We look at them during the day and are shocked to see two red-rimmed eyes looking back at us!
- Drippy noses may not be a summer cold; it could be the histamine-driven response of their nasal passages to large amounts of particulate matter. Again, kids can’t comprehend why they are so drippy. If they can’t wipe their noses with a tissue, they rub them with their hands. I have had clients rub their noses on…me! My bad for not paying more attention to their needs!
- It increases respiratory and cardiac workload. This can produce fatigue or lowered alertness. Kids rarely sense an increase in their heart rate. They struggle to describe how they are “not feeling well” even if they can communicate, because this is a relatively rare event. In fairness, adults that feel the effects of smoke exposure are struggling to describe what is happening to them.
Special needs kids cannot fully comprehend this situation. They aren’t the only ones. Their caregivers might struggle with both the level of risk and their options to protect kids and themselves. Both may be unable or unwilling to accept the safety limitations that would keep them healthy. Some kids are highly tuned to a change in their environment. Seeing hazy air or adults wearing masks scares them; they want us to fix it (“right now”) but we have no control over how long these smoky skies remain.
What can we do?
- Limit their exposure by moving activities inside or checking the air quality before bringing kids outside. The easiest thing to do is download an app that can give you local data. Predictions from trusted weather sites can help you plan your outside activities.
- Improve indoor air quality. HEPA air purifiers and high-level MERV filtration on HVAC systems were used during the COVID pandemic. They need to be used during air pollution events as well.
- Switch clothes, wash up. Kids can change their clothes when they come home after camp, and shower at night to wash off particulate matter, especially in their hair.
- Encourage mask wear when air quality is determined to be unhealthy or hazardous. Kids did wear masks, and many special needs kids wore their masks with greater tolerance than the adults! Model this by wearing your mask too!
